Like most people, I have financial, career, and business goals, as well as a wish list of cool stuff I would like to have or do someday. It’s both practical and necessary to focus time and attention on these areas as they are important. On the other hand, devoting too much time to these areas can leave the other areas of our lives wanting – the areas that really matter most, like family, relationships, physical, emotional and spiritual health, to name a few.
Often times, the more successful a person appears to be on the outside, the more unhappy or frustrated they become on the inside. While we work to achieve our financial and professional goals, it’s important to make sure we spend enough time attending to what matters most.
So what does it truly mean to be successful?
I frequently encounter people who are busy chasing after success, trying to have, do, or be what someone else has, does, or is; only to discover, once they’ve arrived, they don’t feel successful at all. They will readily admit that on the outside they have success “written all over them”, but on the inside they feel empty and unfulfilled. That’s because they used someone else’s definition of success instead of their own.
If you are going to accurately measure success, ultimately feeling truly satisfied with your life, you will have to define what success means to you. Base your definition on what you think, not what society thinks or what you see on television – not what your mother, brother, sister, father, aunt, uncle, cousin or spouse thinks – not what your boss, teacher, pastor, counselor, neighbor or friend thinks, but what you think.
You are the only one who knows what is going on beneath the surface of your life. You are the only one who knows what truly matters most in your life, so your definition of success must be specific to your own situation. Before you set out on your journey to succeed, redefine the meaning of success for you, in your own life. Shut out everything you’ve heard and everything you’ve seen, and listen to what your insides tell you.
What does success mean to you? What are you looking for in life? What do you want, and what’s important to you? What is your definition of success?
I believe in you!
Coach Morse
Good post- I’ll add that most people think they want to define success by what they have, instead of what they are doing. But that is wrong, as you know; things don’t make you happy. But if you are doing things that interest you? Then you are usually happy. IMO, of course……
Good point Roger and you’re absolutely right! Having more, in and of itself, won’t make anyone happy. Many people live in abundance yet fail to live abundantly.