Success: How do you define it?
This is can be a daunting question. What does success mean to you?
Dictionary.com defines it this way:
Success
suc·cess
[suh
k-ses]
noun
1.
the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts orendeavors.2.
the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like.3.
a successful performance or achievement: The play was an instant success.4.
a person or thing that is successful: She was a great successon the talk show.5.
Obsolete . outcome.
Origin:
1530–40; < Latin successus, equivalent to succēd-, stem ofsuccēdere to succeed + -tus suffix of v. action, with dt > ssSynonyms
2. achievement, fame, triumph.
success
But what does Success mean to you?
I think most people, without really thinking about it , default to the 2nd definition of success. (the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like.) but as I have pondered it, I have come to favor the first definition, as i think(at least for me) it hold a truer sense of what success is.
Success = The favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors.
In my own terms I define success as ” the positive effects of action taken”.
If you think about it weather or not something is successful can’t be determined until after the fact. Your own success is defined by the sum of the actions you have taken up til now…
so many people look at what they have instead of what they can create.
Success
Consider this…
If you were to have aquired a mansion full of expensive things , does that make you a success? One house fire and it’s gone,WOOSH, are you suddenly unsuccessful? Perhaps your achievement of those possessions ,your “success“, came at the cost of loss in another great aspect of life?
What then?
No I think that things acquired are trophies at best, things traded for value of one kind or another.
So where did we get the value to trade?
We created it…
Whenever we chose to put our energy towards a positive endeavor in our lives, our relationships,our business’ ,we create value. Success, then must be a natural byproduct of creating value.
I think this conclusion proves more accurate. That success isn’t some magical destination to arrive at, nor is it a measurement of things acquired, but the value you find in yourself, and create for others along the way.
So I leave you with these questions, What are you doing to create vale in your life and the lives around you? Will you challenge yourself to be a Success?
