How Do You Measure Success
TO BE SUCCESSFUL
What does it mean?
For some success is having a well-paying job allowing them to do what they love to do.
For others success is having a mansion with a million-dollar view, fast, expensive cars and a fat bank account.
I know successful people who have yachts, high-end motorhomes, and million-dollar homes with ocean view. I also know people living pay-check to pay-check and struggling to pay the rent or mortgage. And they also consider themselves successful.
(Read more about traits and behaviors of successful people, including the latest research on the science of success in the upcoming edition of OBI Report. For more information please fill out the contact form)
The question is then – can or should success be measured by how many things we can acquire?
Or is it more about what we have accomplished?
Is it about the path we’ve chosen and how far we’ve come?
We each define success differently
The answers are as different as we are.
There is no one right definition.
Personally, I don’t think is anything wrong with buying things you like – within reason, as long as it makes you happy, and you can afford it.
Whether you have to have the latest model car, or that pair of gorgeous shoes – go for it!
If that’s what puts a sparkle in your eyes (and financially you can afford it) treat yourself.
And help the economy in the process.
That however should not cloud your vision of other (perhaps better) ways of measuring success:
- You measure success by how well your family is doing, financially and otherwise.
- You measure success by the warmth of your friends’ smiles when they see you.
- You measure success by how happy your pets are to see you.
(For those of you with pets you know this very well: give them food, a roof over their heads, and love.
Pets know that’s all they need to be happy. It’s us, humans, that complicate things ; )
When talking about success, Ralph Waldo Emerson said it well:
“To laugh often and much;
to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better;
whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
to know even one life has breathed easier because you lived.
This is to have succeeded.”
How do you measure success?
And are you there yet?
Be well. Come back and visit often. And do tell a friend.
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Mariana worked on both, the east and the west coast.
Big or small, each project she worked on helped define the importance of gaining and sustaining a competitive edge in an increasingly complex business environment.
Business know-how, love of teaching and writing – all combined in 2006 to form OBI.
Its mission: to make learning fun! And easy.
Through its training, consulting, and publications OBI builds bridges of knowledge to take you from where you are to
where you want to go. Using a mix of serious, informal, analytical, and optimistic approach, OBI truly makes learning fun.
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This was an incredibly nice post. Spending some time
and actual effort to make a top notch article… but what can I say… I put things off a whole lot
and never manage to get nearly anything done.
Jon, don’t be so hard on yourself for putting things off.
Many others are doing it – and it’s usually for one of three reasons:
1. Don’t like to do it
2. Don’t know how to do it.
3. Don’t want to do it.
Finding out the EXACT reason will get you to a good start to get things moving.
Glad you enjoyed the article.