Success Is…

What is “success”, and how do we know when we have it?

All areas, all aspects of life have a success factor. We seek to be successful in all of those things. Sometimes that can seem like such a daunting task. Successful in all things.

The truth is, sometimes we personally look beyond the mark. We anticipate and expect success to be something different than it really is. We pursue that expectation of success seemingly forever and rarely ever achieve it, in our own estimation.

So what is “success”, really?

Success is much simpler and more often achieved than we think. Our own personal expectations are not necessarily the reality of achievement. And what successes are most important? Are our priorities straight as to what is “wanted” as opposed to what is really most important?

Take some time to reassess yourself and your life. Are you progressing or merely chasing improbable fantasies?
What do you really want in life?

I was speaking with a lawyer friend just the other day. The world would tell you that my friend is very successful in their law practice., affecting a positive outcome in virtually every case they take on. But my friend says that he hates his job. The practice of law has not given him the occupational satisfaction that he had expected. He openly admits that he isn’t happy. But my friend continues to practice law because the financial compensation supports an affluent lifestyle, which is my friend’s definition of success.

Is success found by selling happiness for physical wealth?

On the other hand, my own Mom was a stay-at-home mother who made the time to be active in community affairs and raised nine children, as well. Was she successful? She was happiest when her family was gathered around her.

In the end, we find, “things” will not make us happy. “You” make you happy. Your choices in life should leave you empowered, not entombed.

Take another look at your successes, or seeming lack, thereof. Maybe you are more successful than you think, in ways you had not considered before. Your true successes may actually be more important and far reaching than you had ever realized.

Perhaps, then, we may say that success is the optimal balancing of talents, ethics, and desires. Success is not based on the strength of your financial statement, but on the happiness you find along the way. The happiness that warms your heart and lifts your soul.