Defining Success:

    As we go through and start to create the lives that we want live and goals to help us get there, the vast majority of us are going to have the word “success” in that picture somewhere. Yet very few of us could tell someone what success meant if we were asked. Sure, we could give them the dictionary idea of the word or some abstract idea of success, but we don’t have an firm and clear idea of what success means to us personally. This idea is something that is going to change from person to person along the path and is something that should be defined as we move forward. There is no reason to put the word into the picture of the life we want if we can’t recognize it when we get there.

    There are countless pictures of success in the world and each person is going to have a different one, one that resonates with them and gives them that feeling that they have won, they have arrived at the life that they have always wanted. This is something that we need to take a critical look at and to define for ourselves, an idea that is person and powerful

    For many people, success is going to be having money, but that is an easy this to create if you are willing to sacrifice for it. There are plenty of people in the world that make a lot of money, but have no time for their passions or their loves ones. Are they actually successful?

For others it will be having a strong family and they will sacrifice their passions and their work for that end. Is that success? It might be to them and that is the key, success is going to be something that we need to define and understand for ourselves. My version of success isn’t going to look like your version of success.

    Let’s use another example here. In my writing I have said many times that I am a gamer, I love to play all kinds of games from board games and role playing games to video games. To me, success isn’t having my own jet or a mansion, to me success is being able to buy and enjoy the newest games without worry of cost. It is having the time and energy to indulge in my passions and find that fulfillment without neglecting the relationships in my life. To me, that is kind of simple, but it has a myriad of effects on my dreams.

My Success, than, is a combination of a lot of little things. So, to have what I want I need enough money to have a high end computer and the money to purchase around 2-3 new video games a month. Add to that the time to play the video games as well. To me, that can be done in a lot of ways, but the one that has resonated with me the best is to have no more than a 4 day work week. So I need extra disposable income and 3 days off each week to indulge.

What else does success mean for me? Somewhere to play those games. This means that I need somewhere to live that has 2 rooms for me, one set up with all the computer equipment and extra space for my friends to come and play and a second room with a large table for board games and all. So now success has an additional layer onto what it means past just money.

Finally, success needs to have the ability to maintain and enhance the meaningful relationships in my life. Some of these can be done through the gaming, but some of them need other avenues and I need to the extra money and time to be able to indulge in those as well. For me, there is a very fine balance that I need to strike between working all the time to get the money, and having the time to spend on the reasons that the money is there or finding other ways to gain financial freedom so that I don’t have to balance work. And I am in the process of doing just that and becoming my own boss with my own business!

    What sorts of things in your life mean that you are successful? What aspects of your life does success bleed into and change how that portion of your life is? Finally, what are you willing to sacrifice in your pursuit of that definition of success? Thinking about these things is a very good idea as it will flesh out your goals so that you don’t arrive at that goal and find it empty for you.