Figuring out what others consider to be success is simple. You can copy someone elses steps and expect to feel the same way or achieve similar results. But it will always leave you with a feeling of dissatisfaction. Real success is not the result of following a "winning recipe" and it is definitely not the result of following the masses, because they aren't going anywhere (fast)...
You can however define your success by these 2 questions:
What does your success mean to you? &
What does your success mean to others? The media has a strong desire to prescribe you an idea of success, although its content can only be described by the individual. The profits made by commercial media are based on the idea that you have to acquire stuff to feel successful and fit into a social mold. But almost all of these projected images are unrealistic. An expensive car, lots of money in the bank, nice clothes, the latest gadgets are never a necessity for a happy life. So when you follow the media's vision instead of your own, you're dooming yourself to play a role in life that is not defined by you, but by someone else.
Here's what I think: follow your own dreams or you will forced to follow someone elses.
They say a tree cannot grow in the shadow of another tree, and therefore you cannot grow as an individual by staying in the shadow of another person's success. The first step towards personal achievement is deciding to move out of the shadow, to nurture yourself and grow, so that you can begin to cast a shadow of your own. The value of your accomplishments depends on consciously choosing to undergo new experiences that at first scare you, but make you grow stronger and wiser in the end.
You can only free your full potential for personal expression, by accepting your unique potential strengths. So the first step towards personal success is to accept yourself as the unique person you are. Never choose to act differently, but accept that you are unique, by default!
If success relies on your ability to grow on your own, then a big part of success involves challenging yourself. Success is not about outsmarting or being competitive with other people but by allowing an internal battle to happen within yourself. The reason is simple: you will never find anybody who cares more about your achievements than yourself. Your friends and family can be supportive, but when it comes to acting out your vision, you're completely on your own.
Most people believe success is a pot of gold on the other side of a rainbow. But if you tried this mindset before, you already know it inevitably fails to give you a feeling of success. The goal is to live the idea of success in the present moment, not to achieve it in the future. The mindset of success is shaped by undertaking small actions and by understanding that every step of the way is just as important as your goals. So reap the rewards of your success all the time, or stop trying to be successful, period!
To give you a small example: a couple weeks ago I looked at the visitor statistics for this blog and noticed that in the previous 7 days the visitor count had tripled, compared to the first week of October. I have to admit, this blog is very young, but a 300% increase in traffic is an undeniable sign of growth. Getting in touch with as many people as possible and helping people to get in touch with their inner powers are my primary goals, so am I not successful because I haven't been able to share my vision with thousands of people just yet? Absolutely not! I've already succeeded at making enough changes to allow me to be connected with 3 times as much people as I did before. To me, that is success.
But success not only depends on your feeling of satisfaction, it also depends on the value you're delivering to others. If you don't believe your efforts are of value to others, then you should stop doing what you're doing right now! If you don't care about someone else's desires, then nobody will care about yours.
To be successful, you will have to find satisfaction in contribution. Your success means nothing, when your environment remains indifferent about your achievements. You fail, when your audience doesn't feel included in the success story you're telling. For example, if you are a cook, and you marvel at the flavor of your dishes, but everybody else feels noxious when eating your food, then you've failed miserably at delivering value and your success will follow suit. You can only shine, when those who are connected to the results of your creative work, shine as well.
What Is Success?
Success is the road, not the destination. It is the road you create, because you love to do it, not because others made you think you should. It is the road you create for yourself. You either decide to build it, brick by brick, or you keep following the roads other people made. And it is the road you build for others, because you believe the old roads are leading to nowhere and are failing to serve your fellow man.
So, now that you know... where are you planning to take us?
