Growing up in Germany, I was always kind of naturally led to believe that success equals career and money. However in the last couple of years, while living in South Africa and traveling a lot, I started seeing things differently.
In this article, I am sharing some of my thoughts about success and money. If you are out there chasing money while thinking once you achieved “xyz” in terms of career and money, you will be happy, or if you like to read about different ideas and angles of success, please continue reading.
So what is success?
Money and fame? I don’t agree. I do agree, that money is necessary to live a good and happy life but having more and more money does not lead to more success or happiness.
There is a saying from the movie Fight Club, “The things you own end up owning you.”. I like what Mark Manson had to say in one of his articles about this: Materialism is a psychological trap. No matter how much you own, how much you buy, how much you earn, it will never be enough. Meanwhile, you’re working longer hours, taking bigger risks, foregoing more and more parts of your life. Wealth occurs when the way we earn money and the way we spend money are aligned with one another – when our money is earned through a positive experience and spent on other positive experiences.”
There are a lot of aspects to success and material wealth is only one component. To give you some ideas or examples, success also includes good health, energy, enthusiasm from life, fulfilling relationships, creative freedom, emotional and psychological stability, a sense of well-being and peace of mind.
The following quote from Eckhart Tolle is maybe a bit extreme but he somewhat does have a point.
“Making money as a goal is not an effective way to live. You will find, even if you achieve your goal and make a lot of money, that ultimately it leads to frustration and unhappiness.”
(Eckhart Tolle)
I think that genuine wealth has less to do with money and things and so much more to do with memories and adventures and embracing magical moments with your family and friends.
Other good indicators for success could be your usefulness to society, your integrity, your ongoing personal healing and growth, regular adventures, and a dedication to helping those in need.
“What’s money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do.”
Bob Dylan
The dictionary describes success as: “attaining wealth, prosperity and/or fame”. I would suggest you scrap that and find your own definition!
Success is the status of having achieved and accomplished an aim or objective. Being successful means the achievement of desired visions and planned goals. And it is up to you to decide what those visions and goals are for your life! And your definition of what success means to you will be and can be quite different from other people’s definitions.
How to achieve success in your life:
- Forget about what others say about being successful
- Become clear on what success means for YOU
- Set goals for your personal success story
- Divide your goals into smaller ones and celebrate each one of them
- Make a plan on how you intend to reach your goals
- Enjoy your life to the fullest while you work on your personal goals to success!
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