Many of us strive to be successful in our lifetime. But what we don’t realize is that we are overcomplicating it. Success is very simple and can be achieved in many different ways and to different degrees. Discover what it really means to be successful so that you can recognize the success that YOU have already achieved in your lifetime.
What does success mean to you?
Does it mean having a certain amount of money in the bank? To buy a house? To have the latest ‘it’ purse?
Or perhaps being successful means helping people, making a difference in the world and leaving a legacy?
When’s the last time you sat down to think about what success means to you so that you can figure out what your goals are? And I don’t mean ‘goals’ in the traditional sense of the term… I mean meaningful and INSPIRED goals – the goals that make your heart and soul happy.
The true meaning of success is actually quite simple and as you’re reading this post, I want you to think about how YOU define success, what it means to you, and most importantly, think about the success you’ve already seen in your life.
The Definition of Success
Let’s go back to basics. In the dictionary, success is defined as having completed or accomplished something – it’s when a goal or purpose has been reached.
So then, what is your goal? What is YOUR purpose? Why do you wake up every day and get out bed?
You get to up to go to work, to cook breakfast for your S.O. or family, you wake up to make your household run. But you also get out of bed to go enjoy life, to explore your city, to go to new restaurants, to try new things, to work on your passion or hobbies, to see your friends.
Success is subjective because depending on your goals and purpose, which can also change with time and according to the stage in life that you’re in, success will mean something different to you.
[bctt tweet=”Success is simply defined by when a goal or purpose has been reached. What is YOUR goal or purpose? Then success will be defined according to that!” username=”seppyforlove”]
When you’re a teenager, success means finishing high school and then figuring out what you want to do next. When you’re a young adult, success is carving out your own path, learning about yourself, finding your voice and becoming a more confident individual.
Your definition and perception of success varies with time and will be influenced by your upbringing, your values, your environment (at home, at school, with your friends), what you learned in school and from your peers…all of that will affect your perception of success.
As you can see, success is something that YOU have to define for yourself, and it starts with a lot of introspection to figure out: What do I want in life? What is my purpose? What do I want to achieve? What are my career goals? What are my personal development goals? Who do I want to be?
[bctt tweet=”To define what success means to you, start by asking yourself – what are my goals? What’s my purpose? And who do I want to be? The answer already lies within you, you just need to dig it up and find it” username=”seppyforlove”]
I’m going to share *my* definition of success. But what I strongly encourage you to do is to sit down and define success based on your own standards. With a clear definition, it will become easier to figure out your life goals and your purpose.
- Related: How to Uncover and Live your Purpose
There are not only different degrees of success, but there are also material and non-material dimensions of success. To be truly successful, you need balance of those three elements.
Success is achieving something that you have been working hard at creating. It can be non-tangible like working on building your patience, your confidence or your courage to do something. Or it can be learning something new like a language or improving a skill like calligraphy.
When it comes to material goods, that’s more straightforward. For me, it’s not necessarily the item itself (even though I’m looking forward to buying my fancy new purse for my birthday this year!) but it’s about the journey towards getting it.
[bctt tweet=”Success and goal-slaying isn’t about the outcome itself but about the person you are becoming in the process” username=”seppyforlove”]
The purse is a symbol of successfully accomplishing that goal, from being able to recognize that I want something and then going through the emotional process of truly understanding that I deserve it, that it’s okay to want something fancy, but also recognizing that I need to make changes in my life to be able to get the fancy sh*t that I like and be unapologetic for it.
It’s not about the material success itself but about the process it takes to get to it. It always goes back to the journey and that goal-slaying and success is about the person you are becoming in the process.
1 | Being Successful is to be Happy
Have you ever sat down and thought long and hard about what makes you happy? And then taking it a step further – WHY do those things make you happy?
For example, I’m happy when I spend time with my family. Why? Because it reminds me of fond memories of my childhood when my sisters and I still at home with my parents. It brings out the little girl inside me that loves to come out and play.
I’m also happy when I have the luxury of time – when I can wake up and not have to rush through my morning routine. Why does this make me happy? Because it means that I’m able to be mindful and aware of how I’m feeling so that I’m able to take care of my mind and body.
As mentioned before, success is about being able to achieve something, to reach a goal. When you achieve something, how do you feel?
You feel proud and you feel almost exhilarated because you have been to complete what you set out to do. Therefore, you feel happy.
But I think that even more simple than that, success is about being able to be happy, no matter what your circumstances. It’s about being happy with status quo, even though you are working towards building and creating something bigger.
It’s not about settling, but it’s about recognizing that you are already successful as you are because you are here, you are you and you are living. It doesn’t need to be more complicated than that.
2 | Being Successful is to Grow
Success is about reaching goals, and that happens when you’re making constant efforts towards those goals…which takes time, effort and a lot of introspection.
Success isn’t only about the outcome, the same way that goal-slaying isn’t only about the reaching the goal. It’s about the journey you’re on towards reaching those goals and about the person you’re becoming in the process. You are changing, growing, evolving and you’re learning something new throughout your journey. THAT is success.
As you’re working towards bringing your goals to life, you are becoming a better version of yourself because that requires you to constantly make efforts and work towards a specific purpose.
Success is therefore not only about the outcome itself, but about what you lived through along the way.
3 | Being Successful is Having Purpose
You are successful the moment you uncover and live your purpose.
And what does that purpose mean?
Well…your life’s purpose is individual to YOU and can vary throughout the different stages of your life. And when you recognize your purpose and live it every day, you are successful. Because you are being true to your essence and to the real reason why you were put on this planet!
- Related: How to Uncover and Live your Purpose
Your purpose brings together your skills, your strengths, your weaknesses (so that you can build them up!) and what you love doing. It’s the perfect blend of everything that makes you uniquely YOU!
4 | Being Successful is Being your True Self
Discovering your true self, your values, your strengths and your weaknesses and living by those values, no matter what, is another dimension of success.
You are successful the moment you respect and live by your values and beliefs because you are staying true to the essence of YOU. You are not wavering or changing who you are, but are staying true to your heart and soul because that is foundation of your life’s purpose and when you are able to uphold those elements, you are successful because you are respecting what you were meant to do in this world.
5 | Being Successful is to Enjoy Life
This is something that my sweet aunt told me one day and it really resonated with me: life doesn’t have to be complicated, it’s simply about living every day to its fullest and enjoying the simple pleasures in life without having to overthink every single moment. Life is just about being YOU.
That is success. To enjoy life and just being.
Get Started!
So…how do YOU define success?
And what have you already successful achieved in your life that you’re proud of?
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