I read all of the time how this person is successful or how that person is successful, but whose standards of success are being used? The person deeming them successful? Yours? Mine?

This naturally got me to wondering If I have been successful in my own life. In doing so, I oftentimes find myself comparing my accomplishments, or lack thereof, with that of others, which is a terrible habit to develop for several reasons:

  1. We don’t all begin from the same starting point.
  2. We each have a unique set of skills.
  3. Sometimes our biggest failures (eventually) lead to our finest successes.
  4. We don’t have the same goals or motivations driving us.

Obviously there are more but, for the sake of brevity, these will suffice.

Questions to ponder:

Is a person honestly successful if they earn millions of dollars, but neglect their family in the process?

What about someone who is flat broke, monetarily speaking, but is fulfilling a dream of working in the ministry?

How about an addict who overcame his or her addiction?

All three are successes in their own right, but they may not be what you and I would consider a success.

…Not matching the idea of success others expect from you is only painful if that’s what you are seeking.”

-Nassim Nicholas Taleb

How you define success is just that: how YOU define it. Don’t let someone convince you otherwise just because they interpret things differently.

Success
Photo by Ryan McGuire (Gratisography.com)