Reaching Success

Reaching For Success

Success is a never-ending quest. You never reach success, it’s something you strive for, it’s a way of life. Once you think to yourself, “I’m successful,” that’s when you become complacent. It’s easy to rest when you feel like you’ve made it. It’s easy to lay back and revel in your success. But if you stop at where you think the top is, then you become idle, and people begin to pass you up. That’s the irony of success. How do we attain success then if chasing it makes us happy, but obtaining it makes us weak and stagnant?

Follow the Rules

There are rules to success. There’s that old adage, “Success leaves clues.” Meaning, you can look at some of the most successful people in the world, and not the ones that were born into wealth. Look at the ones that started with nothing and built empires. It didn’t matter if they were young or old, what color they were, or what country they were from. The most successful people all follow similar patterns. It’s no accident that they’re successful. Replicate their patterns, and you too can be successful.

Success vs. Fulfillment

If you’re not growing or progressing, then you’re not going to feel alive and happy. Along the same lines, do not confuse success with achievement. For example, “When I achieve this certain thing, I will be successful.” Being fulfilled in life is more important. When you feel fulfilled, you feel complete. Who you become in the pursuit of your goals is what makes you successful. I remember being a child, trying my hardest, exerting all of my energy to get an A on an exam so my mom would be proud of me. But when I achieved the A, I wasn’t happy. I wasn’t fulfilled. I wasn’t working hard for myself, I was working hard for my mom’s love and attention. After a pat on the back and a “good job son,” I was left with this emptiness. This is why we lose so many loved ones to suicide. They think that once they reach a certain point, they will feel happy, and when they don’t, they don’t know what else there is to live for. What makes you happy? What makes you feel fulfilled so that even when you don’t accomplish your goals, you feel successful?

Decide Now

If you want to be successful, you have to decide right now that you are successful. If you don’t decide how you’re going to live every day, how you’re going to be, then you’re going to just show up like everyone else. This idea has given me so much power in my own life because I no longer depend on others to determine whether I’m successful or not. Just this year, I applied for a better position at my job. Even though I scored number one on the test, I was passed up due to politics. It would be so easy for me be angry at the person who got the job, or be angry at the system I work in, or angry at the politics being played, but I didn’t. I decided that no matter what happened, I was going to live in a state of abundance in so that I already felt complete. In that moment, I chose success. I chose success on my terms, and so can you.
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