This is a illusive word. And means many different things to different people. It has been said that fulfillment is a journey and not a destination but let’s face it, sometimes you want the destination — the house, the car, the relationship, the health.
The dictionary definition is:
(1) the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors and
(2) the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like. Both of those definitions are about the destination.
The word itself comes from the Latin word “successus “meaning an advance, succession, happy outcome.”
I’m going to define success as the attainment of fulfillment
in the three primary areas of life:
Relationships;
Health; and
Career.
If you are happy with where you are and where you feel you are going in your relationships with your health and inside your career (which encompass your financial health), then most people would say “you’re successful” and most people would feel fairly happy if they are satisfied inside these three areas of life.
Let’s briefly explore these three areas.
Relationships First we have a variety of relationship. We have physical relationships. We have family, friends, business partners, co-workers, bosses, employees, doctors, companies (insurance, utilities etc.) and groups we belong to. We have psychological/spiritual relationships with ourselves and the various aspects of our psyche, society, God/religion and science.
Health Physical, Mental and Spiritual
If you are happy with where you are and where you feel you are going in your relationships with your health and inside your career (which encompass your financial health), then most people would say “you’re successful” and most people would feel fairly happy if they are satisfied inside these three areas of life.
Let’s briefly explore these three areas.
Relationships
First we have a variety of relationship. We have physical relationships. We have family, friends, business partners, co-workers, bosses, employees, doctors, companies (insurance, utilities etc.) and groups we belong to. We have psychological/spiritual relationships with ourselves and the various aspects of our psyche, society, God/religion and science.
Career
I look at career as including work and money.
Money. Your finances, whether you can pay your bills easily, or whether it’s a struggle.
Whether you are in difficult debt or manageable debt. And whether you have additional income for the things you want that would add joy or prestige to your life. Your ability to be able to give financially to others.
Work.
Work is what you do, your physical and mental activities that encompass you day. They include things you do to:
Make money
To Serve and/or take care of others
To take care of yourself
As a means of growth or self expression
Have fun
Yes, I include play inside career as I think our best careers are the ones in which we do satisfying activities that we enjoy that make us money. As Einstein said “If A is a success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut.”
So when looking at your life and how to make yourself happier and more satisfied — these are the tree areas on which to focus.
Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out. — Robert Collier:
I believe the first thing to do when evaluating your life is to look at your priorities. How would you rank these areas of your life? What order would you put them in and what level of satisfaction would you feel you had.
For myself, if I’m honest, I have difficulty ordering the three groups. So I break them down and order them as follows: For myself, if I’m honest, I have difficulty ordering the three groups. So I break them down and order them as follows:
Area Satisfaction Level (10 being the best ever)
Family :
8 out of 10. I can always see ways my life can improve so I’ll seldom give myself a 10.
Career:
5 out of 10. There are a bunch of things I’d like to improve here but still there are many things that are going well.
Relationships (Other):
7 out of 10. Pretty darn happy here.
Health :
6.5 out of 10. I rank this last in priority so it gets less attention and consequently could use some more work (exercise-diet you know the drill). Of course, when I’m sick or in big time crisis this moves up in priority
I believe if I could claim an 8 in all of these areas. I’d call myself successful and be pretty darn happy with my life. Take a look at your life and you may be surprised at how well you are doing.
Every day, I make a grateful list and usually the list is full of people in my life that I’m grateful for.
And after I did this exercise I can see why. And the things I’m really working on in my life are in the areas that are less satisfying. So, it’s a good measure as to if you are on the path you want to be on and how you might like to change it.
Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, “What’s in it for me?” - Brian Tracy
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