2. Sean James Donnelly, musician
What is achievement to you?
I find the idea of achievement to be quite quicksilver, really. No sooner do you think that you've really achieved something special, than the goalposts have suddenly moved. Who moved them, I don't know. Was it my opinionated friends? Was it my enemies? Or did I move them myself, in my sleep?
3. Murray Gray, founder of the Going West book festival
When have you been at your lowest, and how did you pull yourself out?
There is no lowest - just the eternal cycle of success and failure and the recognition that my life has been such a ball. There is always someone who needs you to be strong and caring and there is no choice but to question, consider and love, regardless of what crap you experience.
4. Joan Withers, chairwoman Mighty River Power, director ANZ, former chief executive Fairfax and The Radio Network
Did your parents enjoy your success?
My mum died 3 years ago. [Mighty River Power] had just opened our new geothermal station at Nga Awa Purua and I had a photograph taken with the Prime Minister. I gave her a framed copy of that and for the last three months of her life she walked around with it on her walker. She was not a demonstrative person but the fact she carried it around meant she thought it was okay. Mum and dad didn't really have any aspirations for us, other than being happy and healthy.
5. Michael Leunig, cartoonist
When have you failed?
A lot, always and rather constantly. Too much to mention in detail. Life is not an either-or situation or a success-failure situation. We're all a bit successful and a bit failed. The egg was cooked perfectly but the toast was burned. I'm a Wabi-Sabi sort of person I hope. Wabi-Sabi; the lovely Japanese idea about aesthetics that sees true beauty in the qualities of imperfection, incompleteness and impermanence. The beauty of the worn and well-loved thing. I failed badly with my formal education but the sky did not fall in - in fact the clouds parted and the sun came out.
6. Greg Churchill, DJ
Could you have been rich?
I already am. I'm not money-hungry nor have I ever chased wealth. People's obsession with money sickens me, especially in recent decades. True wealth is derived from the things we can't buy.
7. Shane Cortese, actor
What is failure to you?
I fear mediocrity and lack of effort. Failure I don't fear. It means you have tried. But if you're just average at something then you have to push yourself harder. You can't just settle for middle of the pack.
8. Beatrice Faumuina, former Olympian and Pacific leader
You say you've led a "blessed" life - what do you mean by that?
A blessed life to me is having a mother who absolutely wanted to do the best by their child. How I reciprocated that was to do my best at every opportunity she allowed me, because why would I want to waste that? The Pasifika story has been about the migration to New Zealand and developing the next generation by giving them the best opportunities - I'm that next generation. My late grandmother and mother were born in Samoa and migrated to New Zealand. So I'm well aware of what they did to provide for my family and what my mum still does, and this is my chance to add to the story. It think it's incredibly brave to migrate from a country that is home to another one, and when you have that as your background the world is seen in a very different light. That's where I get my inspiration from - home. People often ask me how I've found my success and I always say it's about faith, family and friends, and random acts of kindness.
9. Bryce Langston, Tiny House proponent
What does success mean to you?
Success is a word that I associate most with the accomplishment of a goal and it's not something that I strive for. I've had a lot of ups and downs and hurdles to overcome before any kind of achievement and what I have learned is that it's the journey where happiness is found, not the destination. For me success is when I am able to enjoy each moment on the path I'm on and not be focused on the outcome, which often is completely out of my control.
10. Norman Ng, businessman
What did your parents teach you?
My father was a hard, strict man with a great emphasis on discipline. He ingrained a hard work ethic into our lives because we had come from a poor background and he made great sacrifices to get our family away from that environment. He taught us to work hard and save everything. We were only allowed to eat ripe fruit that was about to go off to minimise wastage at the shop. I guess we were taught to constantly save for a rainy day and never forget where we came from. I don't gamble. Don't drink. Don't smoke. There's a lot of luxury in the world but you avoid it. I'm not interested in flash cars or flash clothing. I do travel now, though. In the last few years, my wife and I have been all over the place.
11. Paul Henry, broadcaster
When was the last time you doubted yourself?
It's just so unproductive; any time you doubt yourself is counterproductive to the task at hand. Let's face it - if you fail, what's the worst that can happen? Australia was a failure, but it wasn't my failure. It was just a failure I have been associated with. I don't believe I played a part in that failure, in fact I know I didn't. Most Australians didn't know the programme was on - it got more publicity in New Zealand than in Australia. No matter how good your product, you can't be an overnight success if your shop is in the middle of the desert and no one knows what you're selling.
12. Julia Deans, musician
When have you failed?
Failure is regret, I think. Regretting not having done something when you had the opportunity. Or when you start measuring your achievements against other people's, that's when you start thinking about failure. You can trap yourself in this spiral of despair because you feel like everyone's having a way better time and doing way better than you are. It's fatal, because you know there's someone looking at what you are doing and thinking "they're having a way better time than me".
