What goes through your mind?
This question has come up for me recently. I thought I’d ask all of you! I know I want to make a difference. Exactly how I don’t fully know yet. I do know that I (to paraphase Ralph Waldo Emerson) want to know that one life has breathed easier because I have lived.
So what is the measurement of success? Is it money, having a business that is well known? Is it having influence in the business world? Is it having a big house? What about being mentioned in business magazines? How often must it happen? Is it having more than your neighbors, or acquaintances or family members? Is it having more houses, more toys, more cars, more clothes? Is it having employees and prestige? Is having a title important to you?
Or do you measure personal success with having loving, caring friends, enjoying life, accepting who you are with love? Is it enjoying a sunset, a flower, playing with your children, your pets? Is success measured by how you make people feel or how they feel about your possessions?
And if you don’t achieve your personal success goals, can you still be happy? If nothing else, I hope this post is thought provoking and causes some inner reflection.
I have just watched house hunters international. Those that live in another country have much simpler lives than we do. Less stuff, more connection time with others. Beyond that, less stress. Sounds like a life to admire.
Sue Bock
http://couragetoadventurecoaching.wordpress.com
Yes, and if you look at Italy and Spain, they take a lot of time to eat, enjoy the food, converse. They take 2-3 hours for some meals. Some of us feel that an hour is too long!
I measure success with an internal compass. External success, like things, position, fame, fortune, can be very transitory and lonely. I experience personal success through my relationships with others and the mutual exchange of a smile, a kind look, a caring touch, and a sparkle in the eye.
I so understand. Sometimes I feel so surrounded by people who appear to be business success driven that I feel a disconnect. But then I may be wrong and they feel the same way as I do. Maybe I need to ask them.
Lots of good questions. I measure success by the quality of my relationships and there is always room to grow in that area. So it’s not about achieving but continuing to grow in those relationships, being willing to learn and change.
Susan Berland
Willing to learn, grow and change is so powerful to making our lives so much more and enjoyable. Thanks for your responses
Success for me is a quality of feeling rather than a quantity of things. Those moment of inner peace, creative breakthrough, the flush of accomplishment and the sustaining of love in my life with my chosen family and community.
Yes, @VickiDelloJoio:disqus , your response even made me feel your feelings behind it. It makes a huge difference to create those moments of peace, to be creative in our lives and to build relationship that is mutually soul enhancing.
My idea of success has changed so much over the years. Early on I was attached to ideas of professional achievement, and I had no concept of personal success without the professional bells and whistles. Perhaps it is just age, or perhaps some aspect of human development, but my concepts now reside more in living with peace–with myself and others–and having those things in my life that I truly value. By “things” I mean not just tangibles but the relationships and experiences that give meaning to my life and bring me a sense of calm. I value integrity. I also strive to give to others so that I don’t get so absorbed in a personally satisfying but selfish existence.
Judy
The Reflective Writer
http://www.thereflectivewriter.com
Personal-Professional Balance Through Writing
I agree with everything you wrote. Yes, I think I have been more selfish and more acquiring and it’s not satisfying at all. Watching a sunset or listening to the waves, getting a great hug from a friend are far more satistfying!
Success is something my husband and I have talked about many times! I think sometimes men measure it differently than women do…for me, if I am at peace, am surrounded by the people that I love and that love me, if I am able to love myself enough to express the gifts that God has given me, then I believe I have success. And that has not always been what I thought! in the past, success was tied to material possessions and recognition, but getting older has changed me in many ways that I truly find freeing and so much more joyful! I love how you inspire your readers to look deep into their souls!
Thank you, @480bcef2f1ff55ff38b18e0dedff2d36:disqus ! I so agree with you on the freeing aspect of it. I also want to simplify my life more too!
What a thought provoking post Julieanne! It’s really interesting how our measure of success changes as the years go by! I think when we are young we tend to be influenced by what ‘society’ sells us as success = possessions. I find that today success is that inner peace that others mention, along with valued relationships, loved ones, family and friends and being able to share with them.
Lovely post Julieanne!!! Thank you ♥
They still try to sell us possessions, @LisaValero:disqus ! I love your definition of success. and I love that you are part of my life!
Personal success is when one can establish a state of harmonic balance between body, mind, family and finances all else will follow in orderly fashion when achieved.
Thank you for sharing your version of personal success!
Personal Success to me, is a daily decision and is directly connected to my perception of a happy fulfilled life. It is directly proportional to my inner reflection of who I want to be and where I am in that journey as well as my acceptance of that, whatever that may look like. The more I look outward for the markers of success, the less success will reveal itself to me.
Looking at my fellowman to determine what success looks like, is inversely proportional to my actual experience of success. I guess the short version is the adage of “the grass is always greener” right?
Our personal success is a very individual thing. I think it is also a fluid experience and must be re-evaluated and revisited often. Thanks Julianne for stimulating my thoughts about this.
@d47d849b7d7a86b07127415884bc56ff:disqus , I love what you wrote. It’s all true. Success for each of us has to be determined by what we want out of life. And for many including me, the older we get the more we realize that business is not the end all and be all. Success is more about the quality of our life, what we experience in each and every day and how we choose to be happy! Thank you for your wonderful response.
I’ve been trying to answer this question the last year! I feel like doing my business or having a job is more about survival than having a calling. So I revamped my business to be more in alignment with my personal values and tried to ask myself, “what am I working toward?” I found the answer to be freedom, freedom to do what makes me happy. So I decided not to wait and do what makes me happy now! And surprisingly, it’s been making my business easier! I think from here on out, I’ll just measure my success with how happy I am on the whole, cause the happier I am, the more successful I seem to be!
That is absolutely the ticket! We all do that , postpone things. And happiness is always a choice we make in this moment! Congrats to you! That is fantastic. I’m with you!.