Lately, I've been thinking a lot about what it means to be successful. I used to think that going to college, med school, and then becoming a doctor was the ultimate way for me to be successful and live a happy life. It took one semester of college for me to challenge that idea. Ever since then, I've been so up in the air as to how to direct my life towards success.

The older I get, and the more people I meet that have already graduated college and moved towards a more adult life, the more I realize success should be a deeply personal motivation linked to meaning and purpose. Most people will look at income, a job title, or degree as a measure of success. However, having those things doesn't guarantee fulfillment if there isn't a deeper reason. Why you want to achieve something should be genuine.

For example, I don't care about money in a way where I want to be rich, own multiple houses and fly around the world in a private jet. I don't aspire to be a millionaire. If it happens, that'd be great, but it's not a goal in the forefront of my mind. Instead, I hope I can support myself in the most basic way possible; I aspire to have financial freedom, to not worry if I have to get my car fixed, or put food on the table. I've come to this conclusion by realizing that having money or items is not something I am too concerned with. I am lucky enough to have grown up with enough things in my life to realize that they aren't as important as working a job I love and surrounding myself with amazing people.

Perhaps this goal means something else for another person. They might have grown up with nothing, and the idea of having enough money for themselves, their family, and their friends would be the ultimate achievement. That's fine and there is nothing wrong with wanting that. That desire comes from a completely different background and person.

The point I'm trying to make is that each person has a completely different view of the world. Everyone has different goals, personalities, wants, desires, and necessities. We shouldn't discount the person that doesn't want to go to college just because our own personal desire is that we want to go to college. There are plenty of people who go to trade schools and do something they are great at doing. Just because someone is on a path that we never thought about being on, doesn't mean we should dislike their choices and happiness.

I want everyone to hold themselves to a high standard and really ask what they are doing in the present moment. If it makes them happy, or if it sucks but is required to get where they want to be. I want people to feel the same amazing feeling I get when I'm doing something that is the most authentic for my soul. Do not live your life according to what other people are doing, or what other people expect you to do. Do what makes you happy and stop caring if you're living up to another person's definition of success.