What is success? Success means excelling at something. ‘Something’ here can mean a lot of things.
As an entrepreneur, success can mean selling your products. Lots of ’em. Success can also mean getting your startup acquired by Google for a billion dollar. The sky’s the limit, really.
However, have you ever think that success can also mean achieving things that are much less significant than you or the society think?
Attentively listening to your customers is a success to some; Giving back to local communities and charities is also a success. Develop your mind, body and spirit are also a big success story.
Why can’t we have it all?
To many of us, we can’t be successful at too many things; it’s almost impossible. We have limitations, remember? Moreover, we are ‘brainwashed’ by the media and society to believe that there are certain successes worth more than the rest – e.g. owning fancy cars, being filthy rich, winning awards, etc. In pursuing such kind of success, you often need to choose; and this is something that
Some can excel in working hard and achieving success, but they might not have a successful work-life balance; some can offer their time to their family, but the businesses are just barely staying in the black.
The bottom line is this: You can’t have it all. In your pursuit of the ‘ideal’ success, there are always sacrifices to be made.
This animation can explain it better:
How to find the coveted success?
You see, we need a new mindset to view success differently. Achieving what the collective think about success is great and all, but it’s more important to be on a journey in search for a true success that can fulfill you.
The key is by becoming self-aware and acknowledging the fact that success is about personal journey. One-size-fits-all measure for success is simply broken.
For me, sleeping at least six hours at night is a big success. I work nearly around the clock running and building my business, and although I sleep well at night – I’m not having insomnia or any other sleep disorders – I’m sleep deprived due to my pursuit of the ‘mainstream’ success.
How about you? What successes that you’re trying to achieve right now?
