What is Success?
I have a few important questions. Among them is “What does success look like TO YOU?”
Introduction
As you go through life, enjoying the journey, you should be asking yourself a few questions. “How do I know when enough is enough?” “How do I know when I get there?” “Am I content?” “What does success look like TO ME?”
Everything we’ve covered up to this point has been important in helping you develop your life plan. A life plan that gives you everything you want out of life, so you can live it to the fullest. So you can achieve your dreams and live your best life! Yes, of course!
But I have to say that I think this discussion we are going to have today, along with the questions I’m going to pose (not answer, that’s for you to do), is probably the most important session yet. Frankly, answering today’s questions may be the most important thing you do in your life! Yes, that’s a profound statement! So go back and look at those questions I asked at the beginning of this section. You can pause and answer them now, on your own, or you can finish reading and then answer them later. Either way, my suggestion is to answer them before you move on.
The meaning of success
Very early in this series of Tuesday morning blog posts, which now totals 101 and spans two years, I made the following statement and asked the following question:
What does success look like TO YOU? How YOU define success is up to you and no one else.
So, what may be successful for one person may not be for another. Defining YOUR personal success is probably the most important thing you can do.
Why? It comes down to: if you don’t know where you are going, how do you know when you get there?
I urge you to think long and hard on this topic. When you think of success, what does it look like to you?
I’m now going to provide you with what I think the answer to the question of “What is success?” is.
Let me give you the best definition of success I’ve ever seen. Now, mind you, I’ve been on this journey for over 42 years, so I’ve had a lot of time to ponder the question. Here it is:
Success is defined as “The progressive realization of a worthy ideal.”
Earl Nightingale was an American radio speaker and author who dealt mostly with human character development, motivation, and meaningful existence, and who died in 1989. The link in Note 1 will take you to a video by Bob Proctor who explains this term.
As we drive toward our dreams, consider that success is simple; it’s just not easy. Remember when we discussed the conditions for success earlier in the program? All those things are simple to say, but not easy to achieve.
How do we know when enough is enough? How will I know when I get there?
If you follow the plan you just put together over the past 101 sessions, you will experience two major outcomes I mentioned throughout this course. The first major outcome is reaching your financial goal, what I call “my number.” This number is the amount of money you expect to need to retire comfortably. In a perfect world, that amount is reached at the age you decide you want to retire. Remember that my original retirement projection was to retire at age 62. I hit “my number” at age 56, 6 years earlier than I had planned. The second major outcome I mentioned is the trajectory of your investment levels and goal realization. Remember we discussed that the wealth curve is not linear? Often, the curve accelerates during your 50s as you enter your peak earning years, increase your contributions, and experience compound interest, which has been described as the 8th wonder of the world. In my case, there was a fourth component to this equation. That is the bull market of 2009-2021, which caused rapid growth in wealth for those fortunate enough to be invested in the stock market.
The answers to the questions, then, are: “How much is enough?” Enough is when you hit your number. This is the same answer to “How do you know when you get there?” In my case, I was somewhat pleasantly surprised as “my number” snuck up on me, as did my professional career plan. Being 56, I felt like I was too young to “retire”, so I elected to work for 5 more years, retiring just a month before my original goal of age 62. This is another demonstration of something else I mentioned to you. If you plan and execute well, you likely will exceed your goals.
What is contentment?
I have a simple definition for contentment:
Peace of mind and security.
You can expand on that if you want, but I think that simple phrase is all-encompassing.
Obviously, I think working hard, defining our goals, and achieving our success are important. Someone once described “The joy of giving,” and I want to discuss that for just a moment
As we put our goals and accomplishments to paper, what is the purpose of doing this? Each of you must answer this question in your own mind, but I would ask you to consider that when you get “there” perhaps your focus should be on helping others and giving back. Like others help you along the way.
I define helping as a hand up. I don’t believe in handouts because I closely associate them with enabling. A hand up is something we give someone: a step or a lesson in becoming self-sufficient and bettering themselves. It reminds me of the proverb "Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime," and highlights the value of teaching self-sufficiency over providing temporary aid. Yes, I understand there are circumstances where aid is necessary, but I think you know that I’m not talking about that here.
Again, you will have to define contentment for yourself, but I think of it as a satisfaction of obtaining and experiencing what you want out of life, along with the act of helping our fellow man.
Summary
Define or answer the following:
What is success to me?
How do I know when enough is enough?
How will I know when I get “there”
Will this make me content?
How can I help my fellow man?
That’s all for this week!
Let’s help our friends and loved ones, shall we?
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What Is
Success TO YOU?
Afterburner Success Partners
http://absuccesspartners.com/
What’s in it for me?
If you want to get ahead in life, if you want to achieve your dreams and live your best life, you must take meaningful, deliberate action that follows a proven path. Getting ahead is about learning what to do and then doing it over time.
Call to Action
Just. Do. Something. Make a decision on what you want or need to do, define the path, and get after it. Do it today.
Recommended Resources
See notes below for either of my books.
Up Next
A final thought.
Notes
Please note that as an Amazon Affiliate, I may earn a small commission on the sale of any of these recommended resources.
Bob Proctor on success: https://youtu.be/P2juRja05HU
Achieve Your Dreams: A Complete Guide to Live Your Best Life, by David Giustozzi: https://amzn.to/3IxEFgy
Everyday Cooking for Everyday People Like Us, by David Giustozzi: https://amzn.to/437OhVQ