On Success

What does success mean to you? By definition, success is the accomplishment of a desired aim or purpose. It is a very broad definition in all fairness, but I feel in general, many people view success more specifically as the accumulation of money, status, or fame. It can be, but what does that view ultimately lead to? Often it leads to a desire for more and more. Once people start accumulating money, status, or fame, they feel that they need to keep on accumulating. Perhaps those that chase that kind of success are a little misguided. How happy are those people in their lives? How is their home life or their health? Do they spend time with their children and spouses, or are they more consumed with achieving “success” and let those more important things slide? My own personal view has changed with the passage of time. When I was younger, along with many of my peers looking to those adults around us being “successful”, it was easy to associate success with money. Consequently, part of me came to believe that once one had money, happiness followed close behind. In that mindset, though, happiness is always second place, “behind” if you will, and never catching up to the present. Yes, money can make life comfortable, but I’ve come to firmly believe that you don’t need to accumulate money to be successful.

Rather, as I’ve grown older, I’ve altered my own personal definition of success to encompass less tangible things; not money and objects, or even status and fame, but tailoring it to my own person. In business, I view success now not as how large a company I can build, but how satisfied my customers are and how well I can provide a high quality service. In my personal life, success simply means having a healthy, happy family with a roof over our heads and food on the table. Simple things, but I can say with certainty that I feel more fulfilled with my version of success than the one often portrayed by society. We go on “glamorous” vacations, in our previously owned camper with no frills. Simple, but in its own way, glamorous. Our children are becoming independent human beings who are respectful (outside our house) and I view that as a success. With this “success” comes true happiness, not a happiness tied to wealth or objects, but family, health, and life. In an even simpler version of “success”, I’ve come to view it on a more personal level by asking myself the following question; “Am I improving and becoming a better version of myself every day?” It doesn’t take much, but often times the answer is yes.

I’ve only within the past year truly started to focus even more narrowly on self-improvement and becoming the best version of myself possible. Its not always easy, and I don’t always improve something every day, but I don’t beat myself up about it, I pick up, try to learn from mistakes, and move on. Imagine if everyone focused on improving themselves a little and viewing their own “success” as becoming better humans? We would never be perfect, but the world might be a little bit better with a little less anger and frustration. I used to have quite the temper, and it still flairs now and then, but I’ve been able to tame it more by looking at the larger picture. To me, that’s being successful. I seek to become a better husband and father, little by little, and pass that on. So again I ask, what does success mean to you? Are you brave enough to change and view success under a different light and through a different lens? Will you take the steps necessary to make yourself a little bit better every day? Offer a smile to a stranger, hold the door open for the person behind you? Be successful in your own life and it will translate beyond what you anticipate. I dare say, if you focus on improving yourself enough, perhaps wealth will follow, if not the monetary kind, then at least the wealth that comes with being a good person, being respected and looked up to, the person that sets the example and doesn’t follow society’s example. Step up and be successful in the game of life.