Living life well is a success in itself. Making the most of the short time we have on Earth is at the heart of the definition of success. But how do you make that concrete for yourself? And how do you measure that?
Money is meaningless until you do something good with it. Celebrity status can be short-lived and painful as it passes. But life is what you put your heart into: your business, your family, your daily conversations, that’s what really gives meaning to existence, thus also determines your success.
Life takes place both inside you and around you. These two worlds, the inner and the outer, are infinitely complex and intertwined. Their life and your life influence each other immensely, and your success influences their success, just as their success influences yours.
It is obvious that success does not have one dimension, but must be measured by many standards. Viewed from just one perspective, it quickly seems empty and without satisfaction. The ultimate goal is to succeed in living together, the interpersonal success. Here are a number of ways of thinking, to determine your success:
1. Good health
To be able to enjoy life is, to say the least, incomplete without good health. At its worst, life is hell.
Look at your health from the point of view of your surroundings. How does being sick affect the people around you (if you are unable to take initiative), your family (the support you can give or the need for them to take care of you), the local community if you cannot contribute?
Good health really is a gift for you and everyone around you. Don’t deprive those around you of the benefits of your good health. Do whatever it takes to keep your machine running at its best, as the first measure of success.
2. Healthy family
Family is love and support. Everyone has the same role to grow in their family, to stay in touch and to love and support. In helping others, you support the lives of others and yourself.
It also forms the basis for receiving love and support when you need it yourself. The moment you take steps in your life and accept the risk that comes with it, you will need the love and support.
3. Learn to do the difficult things first
Whether at work, in sports or in the household. We all encounter our obstacles sooner or later. Complete success lies in the accumulation of small successes. The great success comes when a team or individual looks at all the problems, tackles the biggest one first and achieves results. Do the hardest things first, then the rest seem a bit easier and more promising. Prioritising is the key word.
4. Be a teacher
One of the greatest compliments one can receive is to be called a teacher. We can all be (or become) teachers. Not necessarily as a profession, but in the basics of passing on life lessons to a next generation, or even our own.
Life can be complex, but there are certainly things you have experienced, lived through, problems you have overcome that someone else can deal with. Share your life wisdom so that the success of yourself, and others around you, grows.
