How do you define success?

By Catalogs Editorial Staff

The answer to how do you define success is a measure of what makes you tick

How do you define success? That depends on who you are talking to. What is considered a success by one person may not be considered such by a different person. An accomplished person who appears, at least from the outside, to have it all, may or may not have a fully successful life. Remarkable achievements and barrels of money do not necessarily mean that the person is happy. Success doesn’t automatically mean happiness.

The official definition of success is ?the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors; the attainment of position, honors, wealth, etc.; a successful achievement or performance.”

Many people consider themselves to be triumphant (or others consider them to be) because they have a whole lot of money in the bank. That?s one way of looking at it. Money equals success.

Then there are those who don?t equate money with achievement at all.

One parent may consider himself a winning parent because none of his children were ever arrested while another parent has higher or perhaps just different standards. This parent may consider himself a victor in the parenting department because all three of his children are Harvard graduates.

Regardless of an individual?s definition of being a winner, there are actions and mindsets that are routinely taken by those who are high achievers and, as a result, get what they want. Reaching a goal isn’t achieved haphazardly. These people have a plan and stick to it.

In order to triumph, whether it?s in business or personal life, an individual needs to set realistic goals for himself. If he doesn’t know what he wants, he isn’t going to get it. If a person’s goals are too lofty and out-of-reach he is setting himself up for failure. Being realistic about your goals is very important although it is certainly okay to dream. And, yes, there are those who do have high aspirations, which may seem out of reach, but they do manage to attain what they want because they work really hard at getting there.

For example, if a person wants to save enough money to buy a very expensive ?designer? dog he needs to know how much the dog is going to cost; how much he is capable of saving each week or each month in his quest to buy the dog and approximately how long it?s going to take him to reach that goal. He is being specific in his pursuit, which ups his odds of being victorious. He knows that he can’t afford the animal right now but he is determined to set aside enough money so that he can get the dog. He has a definitive goal and is determined. That is one of the keys to achieving success.

This is the opposite approach of the person who says he wants this expensive dog but, gee, he doesn?t know how he can ever afford it, and then twiddles his fingers and bemoans the fact that he doesn?t have ample discretionary funds. Sure he wants it but now he has to figure out how to get it and twiddling fingers and feeling sorry for himself isn’t going to do it. If a person is specific and realistic about his desires this makes achieving them much easier.

Achieving success, whatever that means to an individual, requires taking action. Sitting on the couch dreaming about it doesn?t get the job done. Those who achieve what they want have made a decision to do so and act upon that aspiration.

Some people are tremendous successes in their professional life but dismal failures in their personal life. This is considered an imbalanced life. This person may have enough money to buy and sell everyone in the United States but no one likes them. Is this success? Most would say no. If a person completely neglects one aspect of his life (his family or his marriage) in favor of another (his business) he is probably going to end up being a very rich, sad, lonely old man.

A healthy achiever has balance in his life and doesn’t consider one part of his life (his work) more important than the other part (his family.) Easier said than done, true, but a truly successful individual knows how to achieve this balance.