Success. What does it mean? According to Google, success is "The accomplishment of an aim or purpose." Now, that's simply a book definition, but over the years, I've noticed success has taken on different forms as goals change. However, all of these forms have the same trait, satisfaction.
Our goals and dreams are different, but they all come down to satisfaction. When it comes to truly being successful, it means self-satisfaction. In simple terms, it comes down to one question.
Are you happy with your life? If yes, you're successful. If no, what are you doing to change that? How you achieve that self-satisfaction and answer the question is unique to you and you alone. There are common factors that we use to answer the simple question, and the right mix of these factors including your own factors generates evidence to support your answer
1. The Numbers.
Measuring success has been the most common with simple numbers. We typically see this in businesses who measure their success based on profits, stock prices, size, etc. If a business reaches that specific target number, they would consider themselves successful for that certain period However, many individuals also have set their success based on numbers as well.
Academics are a number based measurement. When a student gets that 100% on that big exam, you’d be pretty damn happy and successful if you were that student compared to the student who got a 50%. Grades are measured by numbers, and it is natural to set goals to reach the grades we want.
Money is also one of those number based measurements. To a very wide extent, pursuing success based on finances is the best way to ensure security for yourself. However, the pursuit has to be limited once financial success is reached. Money is one of those things that is never ending leading to greed, and greed sometimes hinders the success of others when used for selfish purposes. Having lots of money will give you a long life and maybe a happy one if that’s your sole desire, but obviously, it typically isn’t leading to the next measurement. It is near impossible to measure your success based on numbers alone.
2. The Quality.
Having the numbers are important yes, but in an essence, they're completely useless if they don't represent something significant in your life. What you do with what you have is a big contributor to success. Take that student example mentioned previously for instance. If you got that perfect score, you'd be more satisfied if that score counted for an exam worth half your grade rather than a homework worth one percent. In regards to finance, when you have lots of money, you aren't going to be truly happy until you actually spend it on something.
It really comes down to how well you're satisfying your own preferences which determine the quality of your success. The happiest people are people what they're passionate about, and the numbers don't have to be taken account here.
3. The People.
The most important and least noticeable measurement out of the three. Unlike the numbers and quality, only you can tell if you're being successful in this specific category. Some people are successful simply because of the relationships they have with others, and having that solid core group of friends and family means you're living life to the fullest. Developing this core takes a very long time which is one of life's greatest challenges. Accomplishing this challenge not only benefits your success, but the success of your friends and family as well making this the most important measurement.
4. The Unique Factors.
Everyone's different. Everyone lives their own lives with different experiences, ideas, opinions, and personality. How you answer the big question is completely up to you. Nobody knows you better than you, but if there is someone who does, they're probably one of the people who are successful with you. I mentioned what the most common factors are. Some may apply to you. Others may not. We all have our own goals and dreams for the future.
Even so, there is one more question to be answered.
When you're successful, now what?
