What Does It Mean To Be Successful?

“What does it mean to be successful?” is the question that I ask myself sometimes and I think most of us, if not all of us, do. Does success equal having 6 or 7 figures in your bank account? Does success mean to be the most popular or famous person? This is a question we often battle with and have been exposed to as we get older. 

 In my opinion, success is what you value and makes you happy. Success is unique and individually based. So, no one person can tell you, you are successful or not. We often look at other people and decide that they are successful by looking at what they have, comparing it to what we don’t have; that is human nature. 

However, in my opinion, here are some factors that define success to me: 

1. One of the wealthiest women in the world once said, “You know you are on the road to success if you would do your job and not be paid for it.” I call this the “DO WHAT YOU LOVE” directive. There are a ton of people that hate what they do despite having a huge bank account. This is not a life to live. Taking pleasure in what you do for a living or what you do for yourself on the side is being successful. Doing what you love provides you with a feeling of wholeness; you do not feel like something is missing. Because of this, you are filling a gap that only can be filled by doing what you love. 
   

2. Success is setting a concrete goal. It is important that you know where you are going or have a clear destination. Some people think that just because you did not reach your goal, that means that you are not successful. However, I believe that setting a concrete goal in it of itself, is a success because you have an idea of where you ultimately want to be or what you want to accomplish. 

3. There are things that we want and things that we need. I believe the key to being successful is knowing the difference. This is important to me because just knowing the importance of attaining a “need” before a “want” can put you in a position where you are closer to reaching your goals as opposed to attaining a “want”. Attaining a “want” will put you in a place of standstill, as it pertains to success. 

4. Learning to balance work with pleasure or passion is important for being successful. We cannot always have our dream job right now. Sometimes it takes us a few steps, a few months, a few years to actually move into our dream job. However, while in the job that does not make us happy, we should do something on the side that we are passionate about, or that we find pleasure in. I love what I do: working with the mentally ill population. However, I still engage in something that makes me happy, and that I am very passionate about, which is singing. I do not make music or anything, but I do sing for my church and ultimately sing praises to God.  

Sometimes for some of us, it isn’t a dream job that we look forward to either. Some other success goals can be totally random to other people but it is one that we are passionate about. One of my random success goals, for example, is to travel to most European countries like Italy, Paris, Ireland, and Scotland. I have still yet to do this. UGH (the struggle.. LOL) One thing I think is important to mention here is that although I have yet to accomplish this goal because of personal reasons, I can temporarily substitute it with going somewhere in the States that I would love to explore. 

One last factor that I would like to mention is:

5. Success is overcoming fear a little bit every day. The Bible tells us in 1 Timothy 2:7 KJV “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” I love the Amplified version, it says, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.” This is a scripture that is well known by most Christians, such as myself and yet that is something that I struggle with on a daily basis. I do not think that there is anything wrong with me, or anyone that struggles with fear because we are human. For me, it is not at the point, nor will it ever be (speaking it into existence), where fear debilitates me, but sometimes it delays me from going after my goals. I think that it is important, that in these moments that we remember God’s words/promises to us. Remembering the promises that are said in God’s word helps us to activate that “sound mind” mentioned in 1 Timothy 2. I think that is a work in process. One thing that I find important is to surround yourself with family and friends that encourage you to move past your fears. My main motivator right now, when it comes to facing fear, is my husband. He helps me to remember God’s words and promises to His children. My husband just recently called us “Alphas.” He said, “Alphas” are people that go after what they want and they do not take “no” for an answer.” He added, “If you cannot go around go above, if you cannot go above it, go underneath it and if you cannot go underneath it, go through it. Whatever that “it” is just remember that we are “Alphas”.” I will never forget this lesson and I have brought it into every situation that I have faced since. I am not going to say it has been easy but it has helped me in overcoming some fear. Conquering fear allows us to accomplish the little things in order for us to ultimately achieve our big goals. 

As I reflect on these 5 factors of success, they do not define any one person identifying as successful. As mentioned before, success is measured by our own values and goals and these are some of the criteria for what success means to me. It is not always easy but I encourage the person reading this, that with God’s help and guidance, we can achieve success.

Take Care!