What was the first thing that came to your mind when you read this post title? Did you actively wonder whether you are a success in the world? Perhaps you began at once to measure and compare yourself to others who you believe are successful.
It can be quite a losing game, if you are not careful.
Maybe it would be good to back-up a bit. After all, what really is success? Do we get to choose our own definition, or do we feel obligated to use those others have created?
I’ve struggled with this concept during my life.
In my early years the expectations which defined success seemed to be easy to grasp. During my school years, it was primarily my test scores and grades and where I stacked up to the others in my classes. Sure, there were other measures, like how skilled you were in sports or music or extracurricular activities.
As time went on there was more friction involved and success became more difficult to achieve. Folks wanted to know what college you got into, what your major was, what your job prospects were, did you have a girlfriend, was it serious?
The focus seemed to be on bigger and better regardless of whether you could classify your actual anticipated outcomes.
That’s part of the problem with success. It slips away as soon as you start to accomplish it. It moves a little further from your grasp and keeps you reaching.
You think to yourself, I’m almost there and then another step appears, another task to check off.
If you are fortunate enough, you move into the business world and search for a job you hope will offer you a decent income, growth potential and a good retirement. You might get married and have children, a house, a car and go on nice vacations.
For some, these are the measures of success that matter most, and by and large, they are the ones society treats with respect.
I wanted all of these, and I am fortunate because they all came into my life. I am deeply grateful for this, for each one of these.
But do they define my success in the world? Can they? Am I not more than these?
What about our other dreams? The ones that live deep inside of us? The ones no one else can see? What about the success of these?
I care about these too.
Do you have some dreams that you want to live outside of yourself? Dreams that you want to shine?
If you do, I encourage you to breathe life into them. I also encourage you to relax all of your ideas about success.
Maybe, if you need to, write down what success would look like if you accomplished them, but then purposely set the list aside. Put it in a safe place and forget about it.
You see, dreams are different. They came with you when you arrived here on earth. They live in you but want to live outside of you. That is their great measure of success. They blossom and bear fruit and share themselves with others, perhaps far beyond your wildest imagination.
This post comes from inside of me in some previously hidden place that I wasn’t aware of until right now. It’s the same place my first book came from when it was born.
I’ve come to realize that I am a channel, a way for my inner dreams to reach the outside world. And I’ve come to realize that I profit by shifting my definition and measures of success. I try to release what the world believes and embrace what feels true to me.
When my dreams take flight, I soar with them, and they are my best version of success.
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