What Success is...n't

One of those questions that will always be of interest to people irrespective of their generation is what exactly success is. Then quickly comes to mind the question of if success is exactly anything. I say this because success to one person may actually be utter failure to another. As it is said, “One man’s food can be another’s poison.”

Earl Nightingale once said, “Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal.” I like that – progressive realization – which means it isn’t just a destination but a journey. As for definitions of success, Earl’s ranks at the top of my list. In as much as a clear-cut definition may not universally do it for us all, it is possible to earmark what success is NOT. In doing this we will knock off some very popular perceptions and, in all chances, begin to earmark what success really means. So let’s begin.

Success is not money. Money has become a very popular gauge that measures how successful people are. Society has pushed us to points where we erroneously feel successful when our bank accounts are swelled and in effect feel unsuccessful at times they are otherwise. Rather than have this perception, know that it is possible to be successful or a failure with or without a swelled bank balance.

Success is not a destination. I have alluded to this earlier. We customarily perceive success as a point that we must attain before we think we have succeeded. Although attaining a set goal is certainly a part of the success formula, it isn’t the whole. When you keep a fixed paradigm of success as a destination and nothing else you make the journey towards that destination a difficult chore. This greatly takes from the joy of attainment.

Success is not a part of your life. It is common to perceive success as a part of a human being. “He is a successful counselor but failed in his health,” or “She is a great mother but a terrible wife,” we often say. We speak this way because we think a human being is compartmentalized like a department store. On the contrary a human is ONE and hence success must also be the whole ONE life and not a part of it.

These are not all that success isn’t but having highlighted these three, I would proceed in the next a few other articles to state what success exactly (maybe) is.