In a world where wealth is greatly celebrated, I think it is important to define and understand what success means to you. Success is multidimensional and it requires focus and effort. To become phenomenal or great at something, you need to put in the time required to develop that expertise. This is why it is vital that the first step you take is to define success for yourself.
As people, we do a disservice to ourselves by comparing ourselves to others. Sure, we should have role models and it’s great to benchmark yourself against the best in the industry, but this should be used for inspirational purposes to push yourself to do better and achieve more. To compare yourself against someone who is happily married or wealthy when you haven’t put in the effort in that specific area is reckless. Why do you choose to confuse yourself by chasing after everything shiny? Be clear on your goals and what you want to achieve. What is your standard of success? Do you want the kind of wealth that affords you the luxury to purchase an island? Okay, are you willing to put in the work and make the necessary sacrifices to achieve it? Do you want a marriage for a lifetime? Okay, are you willing to put in the work to understand and grow with your partner? You can have everything, but you can’t have it all at the same time. What this means is, sometimes you’ll win the parent/daughter/sister of the year award for the effort you’ve put into your family but sometimes you’ll win the best executive/entrepreneur award for your focus in your organisation. It’s not all going to happen simultaneously and don’t compare the season you’ve chosen to prioritise to someone who has chosen to prioritise something else.
So how do you measure success? Well, it’s quite simple really. Use the yardstick of the vision you have for your life.
