Live the life you were destined for.

We live in a world where success equates with material possessions, whether we admit it or not; however, it doesn't have to be that way. When we redefine what real success is, we can begin to view the world from a whole new perspective. How far you've come is how real success is measured. In fact, Macmillandictionary.com defines the verb "succeed" as "to achieve something planned or attempted." This seems simple, yet sometimes we may be using the wrong criteria when we evaluate whether or not we are successful. Given this definition, if we attempt to change, and we do change, this is success. In fact, author Craig Groeschel gives this simple truth for everyone to embrace in order to change: "you do what you do because of what you think of you" (Groeschel, 2023, p. 9).

Reminding ourselves of what we have accomplished in life may be exactly what is needed to gauge our success. Ultimately, we don't need a new house, a better job, or a nicer car to have real success, as this rationale just sets us up for failure. "Real success comes from the inside, and it's completely independent of circumstance," according to Dr. Travis Bradberry, serving more than 75% of Fortune 500 companies (2020). A top LinkedIn Influencer, Bradberry reported how a Strayer University study revealed that "90% of Americans believe happiness is a bigger indicator of success than power, possessions, or prestige. Digging a little deeper, 67% defined success as 'good relationships with friends and family,' and 60% said it is loving what you do for a living. Only 20% stated that monetary wealth determines success" (Bradberry, 2020).

It's time to not be led astray when it comes to success. There is always someone who has more. When you believe that they are more successful than you, this is the problem. Following are 9 indicators of your success, according to Bradberry:

  1. You're no longer the center of the universe. As soon as you feel empathy and realize that you can't succeed without others, this is true success because their feelings and dreams are just as important as yours.
  2. You stay positive. A happy life consists of the essential components of hope and optimism. It's easy to become bitter and resentful when you dwell on what goes wrong around you - this is failure. When you always see the bright side of things, this is real success and believing you have the power to make even the worst situations better.
  3. You know that failure isn't forever. Just because you fail, you don't automatically assume you're a failure, but instead you embrace this as an opportunity to learn something and move on. The reality is, until you learn to embrace failure, you'll never experience true success because your mistakes are what reveal that you're on the wrong path. Here is when your biggest breakthroughs often come through - when being frustrated forces you to think differently, looking outside the box to find what you've been missing.
  4. You keep things in perspective. Unfortunately, we all have bad things happen, which is a part of life. Not having enough to eat, or trying to survive a civil war are someone's problems somewhere else, so it's important to develop perspective. Once you've mastered this, mark it down as a huge success.
  5. You ask for help when you need it. A sign of emotional immaturity is refusing to ask for help, no matter how much you're struggling. Asking for help means that you no longer feel like you have something to prove by being perfect. It also shows that you aren't afraid of people discovering your weaknesses as well as how you understand that no one succeeds alone.
  6. You realize that life isn't a zero-sum game. When someone else achieves a big success, this doesn't mean that you suffer a big loss. Life's experiences aren't a see-saw. Instead, it just wasn't your time to win. When you can sincerely celebrate someone else's achievements, this is your sure sign of success.
  7. You can tell the difference between drama and excitement. Remember the days when stable relationships were boring, and you quickly got tired of anyone who treated you as they should? If that kind of "drama" is a think of the past, congratulations. If you prefer stability and and depth to drama, you're succeeding.
  8. You no longer care what other people think. When you still feel like you have something to prove is when you worry about what others think. When you don't worry about that anymore, now you know that you're true to yourself and your principles, staying satisfied with life. As soon as you understand that what other people think are just their opinions, which have no effect on reality, now you know you're succeeding because their opinions don' t change who or what you are.
  9. You accept what you can't change and change what you can. There's a difference between pessimism and practicality. Once you accept that you can't stop the hurricane that is coming, you can start to mitigate its effects. It doesn't do you any good to stay in denial. Instead you can move on and start exploring your options, making plans to change what you can. Taking responsibility for changing the things you don't like about your life is one of the biggest indicators of success.

If you are feeling stuck no matter how hard you try to make positive changes in your life, please make the decision to break free from trying and finally transform your life by reading one of the most impactful books by Craig Groeschel, a New York Times Bestselling author, The Power to Change: Mastering the Habits That Matter Most.

References:

  1. Bradberry, T. (2020, September 7). 9 Signs You’re Successful-Even if it doesn’t feel like it. SUCCESS. https://www.success.com/9-signs-youre-successful-even-if-it-doesnt-feel-like-it/
  2. Groeschel, C. (2023). The power to change: mastering the habits that matter most. Zondervan.