What is Success? What does it mean to you?

Quoting the Oxford dictionary, Success refers to “the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.” Yes, you may agree, success does mean achieving targets we had set for ourselves. However, the true meaning of success differs for each individual.

What does Success mean to you?

If you are a person who is just sailing through life with no clear objectives about where you want to be, what you want to accomplish, it’s time to rethink. In our society, the word ‘successful’ is generally associated with individuals who are loaded with money and / or have made a name for themselves.

To put it another way, it’s the rich and famous who are looked upon as successful.

But this is a limited perception, restricting success to material accomplishments. If you really want to be successful in life, you need to first define what success means to YOU. What is it that, that will drive YOU and get the best out of you?

A truly successful person is one who is able to strike a balance in all aspects of life.  When you get to defining your own success objectives, take time to think through the following areas of your life.

Personal: Your personal growth is crucial to your overall happiness. Think of attributes such as honesty, integrity, optimism, leadership, confidence and fearlessness and how important they are to you. Self-improvement is the first step towards building a better life and only when your spirit is strong, will you be able to focus and stay motivated.

Relationships: Success will not taste half as sweet if you are alone. Our relationships are crucial to our happiness and growth. Our friends and family are our support system whether we realize it or not.  A person, who has ignored his relationships while striving to reach goals he had set for himself, will eventually land up all alone.

Professional: If you are working to earn money, carve out clear and definite professional goals for yourself. Define your vision, where you see yourself five years from now and what you need to do to get there. However, if you are not working to earn money, for example, you are a homemaker or you do community service, success would perhaps mean having raised virtuous children or having established a care center for the elderly. Whatever success means to you, its worthy of your best effort.

 Social: We live in a society and we have ethical and social responsibilities towards our fellow citizens, towards our nation and our planet. These may not form a prominent part of your success plan, however in order to relish the completeness of your success, do give a thought to what you can do for others. Helping others, practicing kindness and compassion will heighten your overall experience so that when you count your accomplishments, you will be proud to say – I have been a good human being and a good citizen.

The points I have highlighted above are meant to kindle your thoughts and broaden your meaning of success. However when you take the time to delve deep within yourself, you may discover a whole new passion which may end up becoming your ultimate goal. Keep looking!