What is Your Definition of Success?

With the power of social media, we are constantly inundated with images of what we have been trained to believe are successful people living their highest, most successful lives.

The images we see are often set in a beautiful location while folks are focusing on their self-love and healing journey. 

Is this reality? Absolutely not. 

I think the pandemic changed us all in some way. I believe we have shifted into a different lifestyle of what’s important to us. I think we have to take inventory of our lives and ask ourselves the question, what matters the most to us? 

With that, I think a shift is happening and we are starting to collectively question, what does success look like to me? Yes, we would all like to travel the globe, drink tea, have our hair and make-up done and project flawless images. 

Growing up, we had a show called Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Robin Leach was the host, and I would soak up this show every Saturday night and dream of Hollywood living. Now we have around-the-clock shows and social media to remind us just how poor we really are. The reality of the behind-the-scenes of these lives often becomes exposed and we learn, all the riches in the world can’t buy happiness or health. This has a lot of people questioning the success of their own lives. 

As we age, we become wiser, and success begins to look differently. For me, it is the feeling of accomplishment that comes from setting and reaching goals. It is having the courage to take risks, and the resilience to keep going when the odds are against me. It is believing in myself and my abilities, and knowing that I can achieve anything I set my mind to. 

Success is a journey, and it starts by having a clear vision of what you want to accomplish. Once you have that vision, you can start breaking it down into smaller, more manageable goals. Reverse engineer the process. This helps to ensure that you stay on track and can measure the goals progress. Also make sure to celebrate the successes along the way, no matter how small, so that you can stay motivated and be inspired to keep going. 

In addition to setting goals, prioritize self-care. 

This is probably the most difficult goal for a lot of us to achieve, because there is still some part of our brain that pulls at us … just 1 more email. This steals the day away and before you know it, you lose that opportunity. 

Success cannot be achieved without taking care of yourself. Make sure to practice healthy habits such as getting enough sleep, eating nutritious foods, and exercising regularly. Also make time for activities that you enjoy such as reading, getting outdoors, spending time with family and friends. Everyone’s version of success looks different from one another, as it should. 

We need to focus our attention more inward. After all, it is our journey not some scripted reality show.