Thursday, November 18, 2010

What is Success?


I thought that now is as good a time as any to begin defining what success is. When you go up to one of your friends and ask them what it means to be successful, you will most likely get a re-hashed version of the American Dream.

-Financial Wealth

-Loving and Highly Sexual Relationship

-Notoriety

-Property

-The Latest and Greatest gadgets

There are many more but these are the biggest things. Everyone wants the cars, clothes, the reality TV show (too far?), the big house, the 1,000,000 fans on facebook and followers on twitter; hanging on to your every word. Everyone has that vision every now and again of being interviewed by Oprah in front of millions telling your life struggle. We have all at one point imagined ourselves at the Grammy's, Emmy's, or any other awards show giving our own acceptance speech, "Wow this is amazing I would like to thank God, My parents, and all the little people...".  Who wouldn't want to see their name in lights. But is this really success?

Remember the movie "A Shark's Tale"? If you haven't seen it go rent it, it's a great family movie. Anyways, I am sure we can all relate to Oscar at one point or another. Many of us have felt like "nobodies" struggling to become "somebodies", thinking that if we could just have money and maybe a little fame as well it will bring happiness. What if it doesn't? Don't worry this is not a "can't buy happiness" speech ( I happen to be a firm believer that even though money doesn't buy happiness, it sure helps a lot). But we do come across stories of celebrities all the time who are miserable, try to commit suicide, have nervous breakdowns, and are generally out of touch with reality.

Why is it important to define success anyway?
A clear concept of what success is in your mind will help you in developing your Definite Chief Aim (read more about that here), which will in turn help you to become a master at using the Law of Attraction to get what you desire.

Well what is success then:
1.) Success is Happiness. If you are truly happy with your life, you don't need to add anything to it. When you aren't happy with your life you look for nouns (people places and things) to incorporate into your life in hopes of becoming happy.

2.) Success is Healthy Relationships. Remember being a kid when everything was "free". Few things were more important than having your best friend(s) around. As we get older, we dilute friendship with popularity thinking it is the same thing only to find out when we're even older that it is not. Best friends are hard to find but they are one of the most enriching experiences in life. I am purposefully not mentioning family or significant others because they can fall into the category of best friends too. A best friend is anyone in your life that has your best interests at heart and you have theirs.

 3.) Success is Freedom from Fear. Why do we want to be wealthy? We fear poverty: having no place to call home, starving and watching loved ones starve, being looked down upon by greater society, not being able to practice good hygiene, you get the idea. Why do we want a significant other? We fear being alone. Why do live lives everyone else wants us to live? Because we fear criticism. Why do we stay in our comfort zones? Because we fear Death. Fear is a big reason the Law of Attraction doesn't work for people. Rhonda Byrnes (The Secret) tells how people think so much about what they don't want that they begin to attract it. Imagine the possibilities when you no longer have fear.

4.) Success is doing. When you look at a basic definition of success, it is this: You try something and it works. In order to be successful you have to take action. You have to get up and do things.


5.) Success is Living Life. It is a common belief that your entire life flashes before your eyes when you die. I read an account of a near death experience in which a woman said that when her life flashed before her eyes, she saw every second of every minute of every day. She was aware of every thought she ever had. She noticed every detail even more so than when she was actually living her life; all in a split second. That caused me to ask myself this question: When I die, will I like what I see? In the movie of your life will you see a life that took advantage of every moment? A life where everyday was like a new adventure? Or will you see a life where every day was spent more or less preparing for death? If you believe in God and you see him when you die and he asks "What have you done with the life I gave you?", how will you be able to respond?

True success comes in being at peace with who you are and how you are living. Everything else is just the means to an end. Ultimately you define your purpose, just remember to make a conscious effort to live everyday ON PURPOSE. Only then will the Law of Attraction begin to work for you.

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