So you think you’re successful, you’re making all the money you need or ever thought you’d make in your life. All your current needs are adequately met and your personal life is settled down. You really enjoy what you do, enjoy your friends and family, so is that Success to you?
Success to some is defined as being recognized because of reaching a certain level of financial success or milestone while achieving local or national esteem.
But on the other hand, the person, perhaps a friend of yours, who is a vendor of selling fruits and vegetables at the Local Farmers Market may view himself as successful as well, so who’s right.
What are the classifications, attributes, branding or circumstances which accolades someone as a success. What is the criteria, are there a set of rules or threshold indicating so.
Would The Following Be True Indicators Of Success
• Are you positioned or established enough in your life so that one day soon, even tomorrow, you don’t need to work as you’re financially set
• Once you reach the point of no longer having that need or desire to work because of financial stability, would you remain or continue to occupy that same role
• Do you define or make up your own rules of standards for gauging success and excellence, or would you prefer to use external measurements
Are You Positioned So You Don’t Need To Work Any Longer
Have you been saving enough money in your retirement fund by tucking the proceeds under a mattress so that one day soon, you can just abruptly make the decision to not having to work the next day.
If your current job isn’t paying you enough so you can set aside those funds for retirement, then it may be time for a better paying or a secondary job.
You may enjoy your current occupation, it could be noble and exciting, but if you’re not setting yourself up for a relaxed life after your working days are over, then it may be necessary to make a change towards a better job.
The majority, regardless of their occupation, many are counting on some type of a “Life Changing” event to take place in their lives, such as winning the lottery, or getting in early on a “hot” stock tip, or suddenly inheriting millions from a distant relative.
But we both know this is just a pipe dream, a “hope in hell” chance and not an actual plan for retirement. The odds of hitting any of these Life Changing Events are extremely remote.
When Your Financially Set Do You Still Want To Continue What You’re Doing
So you no longer need the money but you still continue working, this since you firmly believe that your contribution is needed. You feel you need to continuously serve your company, customers or clients because of your outstanding expertise and contribution that no one else can possibly offer.
This thinking can apply towards the chief apple polisher at the local farmers market, or the CFO of a high ranking corporation. These are the self proclaimed “successful” leaders who are still waiting for that life changing event to come, even if they don’t need one.
A famous business icon once said, “Some individuals will pick a career strategy that’s based on doing something that they completely dislike and detest, so then someday, they’ll be able to do something that they like soon after.” Soon after as in tomorrow, a tomorrow which never seems to come.
How Do You Define Your Excellence
Regardless if you’re business is a non-profit charitable organization that helps stray animals, or you’re a billion dollar fund manager, business is business. It’s all about measuring performance and setting or comparing it against other standards.
For instance, if you invest in the financial markets, do you measure your yearly gains or losses and compare it directly to the S&P 500s’ performance. Is that who you think your direct competition is.
Since these Indices are public, how they perform are easy to track. So is your personal portfolio gaining market share or is it losing market share.
What you need to do is ask yourself, does it even make any sense to use external standards that you can’t control or measure up to so you can track your own success.
Using External Measurements
When attempting to use the various external standards to evaluate your own professional success may eventually result in a career of dissatisfaction and disappointment.
You’ll always find someone, some stock, some company that will always perform better than you will. Someone will always have a bigger house than you, a better car, a bigger boat, or their portfolio will always perform better.
This is the very theory presented in the book “The Science Of Getting Rich.” You need to avoid thinking in the competition realm by instead creating your own reality, standards, goals and destiny.
Do you remember the last time you allowed or gave yourself permission to dream your own dreams, rather than trudging to meet or surpass your competitors, attempting to meet those external standards which others have established for you.