What is success anyways?

Over the past 10 years I’ve searched for the specific principles that make successful people successful. I’ve probably heard about 1000 different definitions for success from the different people I’ve asked or studied over the years. Most of the people that described success to me had very reasonable explanations backed up with examples of people who demonstrated success. It was hard to disagree with most of them that the people they described were in fact very successful. Websters Dictionary defines success as: “the fact of getting or achieving wealth, respect, or fame”. But that definition still left me without a clear understanding about what success really is. How could all these people be right? There must be one answer to what success is.

I found that answer in Earl Nightingale’s audio program “The strangest secret”. Earl defined success with the following quote.

Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal or ideal – Earl Nightingale

After really examining that quote I realized that most people define success as a specific destination or end result. We fail to see that success is anyone who sets a goal and goes to work on achieving that goal. If we set a goal to move to the mountains and live off the land and in fact go to the mountain and live off the land then we are successful. If we set a goal that we want to influence children to love science and become a fifth grade science teacher then we are successful. Success was never meant to be a final destination, specific amount of money or certain position in society. Success is simply moving in the direction of our goals and dreams on a daily basis. You’re successful if you’re making reasonable progress toward your goals.

Remember that if you’ve chosen a worthy goal and you’re making reasonable progress toward the goal then you’re successful now. Don’t wait to celebrate your success at the end of the road. Celebrate each day as you move confidently in the direction of your goals and dreams!

Ten Pieces of Inspiration #148 (thesimpledollar.com)

About J. Lindstrom

I have 17+ years of experience in IT and spent the past 7 years primarily focused on Information Security. I have achieved the following certifications in information security. CISSP, CISM, and CISA. I also have a strong foundation on IT Infrastructure and database development.

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