What Defines Success?

Everyone has a different definition of success. We look at billionaires and we want to say that they are highly successful. Most of us want to be them and say we never have a chance of being like that, but what is success really? Is being the richest person in the world how you become successful? Is that the ultimate end-goal? I say absolutely not, success isn’t (and shouldn’t be) driven by a societal desire, it should be defined independently by each individual.

For a single mother of two, success might look like being able to clothe, feed and provide a place for her children to live and grow. Being able to pay for their education and being able to give them simple comforts.

To a lawyer, maybe their definition of success is working for a highly sought-after law firm and dealing with corporations that make trillions of dollars each year. Or having high-profile cases that determine how the law gets interpreted in our country.

These are examples, but they don’t fit everyone. Not every lawyer has to have high-profile cases or high-value companies that they work for. Nor do you have to be the absolute best in your field and get a Nobel Prize.

To me, I measure my success against the people I know, against my friends and my family. My friends and I are very open about our work schedules, work ethics, and monetary compensation. We continue to keep each other in the loop in order to bring each other up, not tear each other down. If my friend gets a 15% raise at their job, the rest of us start getting more motivated to find ways to increase our income and value to match or exceed them. This is a friendly competition, we don’t consider ourselves better than the next.

This is really what it comes down to, how do we measure ourselves against others and what do we use as motivation to do better?

Again, you don’t have to be a Nobel Prize winner in order to “be successful”, maybe affording a brand new PS5 Pro (which let’s be honest is a luxury item) is your definition of success. Maybe being able to afford eating out at a sit-down restaurant two nights a week is success for you. Don’t be hard on yourself if you aren’t a billionaire yet, that’s ok. You don’t need to be a billionaire or a Nobel Prize winner to be happy and successful.

Together we can figure out your definition of success, we can start generating a plan to get you there, and we can create the drive and motivation to achieve your goals! Maybe you’re already successful, then great! What are next steps? How can it get better? We should never stop improving ourselves and reaching for greater heights. Success is just the beginning, now let’s get out there and become the best we can be!