How Do You Define Success? 3 Things It's Not

Are you struggling to feel successful in your life? Is it making it increasingly difficult to stay motivated, to create new habits, and to work toward your life goals?

I hear ya! Even though I know on paper I am experiencing many successes, and if I were giving advice to someone else, I know I would tell them, “You are killin’ it! The momentum’s there. Just keep at it. Focus on the long-game.”

And still, I feel like I’m embroiled in an unending conversation with myself, reminding myself of these things many times a day, and frankly, I’m getting sick of hearing my own voice ?

If you scroll all the way to the bottom, there’s an awesome video that I watched this morning featuring Simon Sinek. I’m addicted to this guy at the moment.

So I’ll ask the question again, to you and to myself: How Do You Define Success? Let’s begin to answer that question by talking about 3 things it’s not.

Success is not universal. You have to figure out what success looks like for you. It’s so hard to do, but don’t compare your success to other people’s. And don’t use other people’s expectations to define success for you. No two people take the same road to success, and no two people have the same “why” for getting there.
Success is not pretty. When you look at a “successful” person, you’re only seeing the end result. And actually, you’re not even seeing that; you’re just seeing a snapshot in time. They could completely fall apart the next minute. What you don’t see is all the struggles, the one step forwards and two steps backs, the doubts and fears, and the unrelenting work it took to get to make that snapshot a reality. That’s what true success is — the ability to persevere in the face of all those setbacks, doubts, and fears — and it’s not pretty!
Success is not an event. You’re not going to wake up one day and discover that you’ve made it, you’re done, you can kick back and enjoy the fruits of your labors now. It simply doesn’t work that way. To feel successful, you need to measure success on a daily basis. I’ll tell you how I measure my daily success in the next section; keep scrolling ?

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Thanks for scrolling! I reflect on 3 things to define whether or not I had a successful day. You’ll have to figure out what your 3 things are, of course, but hopefully mine will give you a little inspiration.

Did I take care of my body, i.e. exercise, eat well, and sleep well? This is #1 because I’m not going to be able to achieve anything else if I’m not healthy.
Did I spend quality time with each of my kids and my husband? The length of time doesn’t matter, but did I give them undivided attention and show a genuine interest in something that is important to them?
Did I do at least one “personal growth” thing? Specifically, did I do at least one thing to improve upon/grow this organization?

Most days, I would say 95% of the time, I can honestly answer yes to all 3 questions. So by my own definition, I have achieved success. Right?

So why the heck do I keep having to remind myself of this…ugh! I’m going to keep at it though, and I encourage you to do the same.

If you’re committed to discovering how you define success for yourself, let me know in the comments below!

Would being more decisive help you reach your goals?

Be Decisive: Practice This Powerful 3-Step Process

Or, maybe you need to change your personal growth mindset:

The Best Personal Growth Goal You Can Have

Click here for more posts with a “life-changing habits” theme.

Have a SUCCESSFUL day!

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