What is Success?

OK for starters there is no one single destination or accomplishment that is success.

Success is not buying that high end sports car, it’s not having a bigger house than your neighbour, it is not a physical place and it is not how much money you have in the bank.

Success is how you feel about yourself. Everyday.

Success is the journey, provided you are following the path towards what you wish to achieve in life.  These achievements we call goals and they are yours to choose to strive for and this includes what life YOU choose to design for yourself.

I would hope we all choose to live a healthy, happy life everyday – believe it or not this is possible, more so if you follow a Tibetan monk’s life but also more likely if we take the time to design our lives in such a way as to make this a high priority.  At times this can be tough and challenging, take this from someone who is still recovering from brain surgery, being happy is really our choice.  We get to choose how we react to others and to the life and situations we find ourselves in, so why not just choose to be happy.

If you define life this way you should soon come to the conclusion that everyday above ground is a great day – life  after all is just the simple act of breathing in and breathing out. So if you are doing this then you should be happy.

For those of us that feel this is just not enough then design what is right for you.  No one (and I mean no one) can design your success plan for you.  Nor should we look at others success in envy and choose to design the same path.  So how do we design our own successful path.

Step 1. Reflection
Spend time alone with yourself, in a comfortable place where you can think (for some of us that maybe sitting alone on a beach, or in the bush, maybe walking in a park) somewhere where only nature can interrupt our thoughts.  Think about what you really want in life, in fact what is it you want to achieve before your time has come. What are you true dreams? What events have shaped our lives to date?   Do this exercise as often as you need yearly, monthly, weekly and use this time to reshape your plan and revisit your goals.  I personally do this just after new years every year then review and reflect on my plan each quarter.

Step 2. Personal Goal setting (life goals)
These have three main essential elements

1. They must be inspiring (to you)
2. You must believe in them
3. They must be goals you can act on.

If your personal life goals meet each and every one of these criteria, then you have the recipe for success at our fingertips (yes write them down).

Step 3.  Take actions everyday
Everyday take one small step to achieving any or all of your goals and at the end of the day you can call that day a success.  Some days you may achieve more than others but regardless celebrate with a smile your achievements.  The better we plan and more we act the quicker we should reach our goals.

Goals will be attained and new goals will be set, a successful day is a happy day in which we are taking those few small actions towards meeting our next goal.

I wish you a successful life – the one you design.

You can make it as simple or as complicated as you like.