Create your own road map

Whether or not we realize it, many people may influence our understanding of "success."  Consider how you view different areas of your life; personal, professional, spiritual, leisure, health and well-being, and others.  Each pursuit or project you undertake comes with conscious and unconscious hopes and dreams.  These goals and your view of a timeline, will assist you to create a sense of accomplishment.  People you meet and read about tend to shape your life. 

Whether or not you feel "successful" begins inside yourself, based on your own self-evaluation, judgement and level of self-acceptance.  To whom do you compare yourself to and why? People around you may ask you questions about what you do, how you live, why you feel as you do, and assess your success based on their knowledge and life experience.  Only you can determine what works for you.  Your view of success right now will differ from what it was and from what it will be.

Recognize somebody else's view of success will necessarily differ from your own because how you live your life is unique.  You may adopt similar end-goals to people you admire.  Yet, your milestones, your thought-process, your perception and attitude will always be your own.  Your choices will also be your own.  You create your own road map to success.  This will involve your desired 'pitstops' and learning curves.  All experience is worthwhile.  Many such memories are worth sharing.

Comments

[Erin]

What is difficult for me is identifying which of my definitions of success come from myself and which are influenced by society and others. Do I really want something or is is just because I <em>think</em> I should? Further, should credence be paid to those that are influenced by society and others because maybe, just maybe, they actually know what they are talking about, and at my current points I just don't understand the rewards? Say for example, retirement savings. When one is in their 20's they may not see the reward in saving for retirement. However, society is telling them this is an indicator of success. They do not listen and 30 years down the road they learn the lesson. Is there a point when you should allow these definitions to creep into your definitions of success?

[Liara Covert]

You discern what defines your view(s) of success. This vision may change over time based on how well you get-to-know your true self and how you choose to adopt or reject external models and influences.

Financial matters reveal a facet of success for some people, but not others. Recognize financial achievement is not a priority for everyone in every culture. Some people choose to live life to the fullest at every moment in other ways. Your sense of sucess can be ascertained based on priorities and dreams or goals in your life at a given time. That you recognize "society tells you" about success indicators means you already discern some outside influences on your decision-making. You decide what's desirable or not for you and whether choices are appropriate or not.

Another example is the idea of "pre-paid funeral packages." In the past, this kind of financial planning for the inevitable was considered something only the ill or elderly would organize. However, funeral companies have also been marketing to younger generations by telling people that this is something everyone should do to lessen the burden on loved ones and to invest for a new kind of peace of mind. Its up to you to determine whether this kind of service is appealing. Learning to think for your means learning to separate your views from what you're told. You determine what will work for you or not. There's no such thing as "a right or wrong choice."