Everyone defines success differently and it comes in many different forms. For you, is it making a certain amount of money? Having a high level of prestige? Acceptance from your peers? A new home? Multiple homes? The finer things in life?
There’s nothing wrong with these things, in and of themselves, but there can be more to how we define success. I have found that how you define success will ultimately define you. If you put your time, focus, and energy around things that are temporal, your heart will be filled with things that don’t satisfy it for long. But if you place your attention and efforts in things that are lasting, your heart will stay filled.
Unfortunately, as a young business entrepreneur in the ’90s, I learned this the hard way. My heart was bent towards getting my name in the newspaper, making more money, gaining the approval of others, buying a better car, and accolades. Unknowingly, I had defined success and it was now defining me. I’d slowly been putting things before people, and it wasn’t working to my favor on the inside. Sure, there was financial growth but at what personal expense? I was tired, I was striving, and I needed a new perspective.
This inner struggle about how to define success led me to a deeper understanding that I had been given a business for helping people — not for personal popularity. What kind of impact could I have by giving my heart to people and my mind to business? All of the sudden, it wasn’t about me. This was liberating and my purpose in life became more clear.
As a result of this, I now define success as the number of lives I can positively affect and not the things I can buy. As you live to serve others, tremendous blessings come your way.
How you define success will define you. How do you define success?
If you want to learn how to redefine success according to what really matters to you, check out my new book, Lead the Way. I designate an entire chapter to this very important topic.
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Robb Holman is author of the newly released book Lead the Way, keynote speaker, and the Founder/CEO of Holman International, a global leadership consultancy revolutionizing the way business leaders operate.