We live in a consumer society. We are judged and measured based on what we buy, how often we buy, and everything we have. There are countless promotional and advertising images thrust upon us daily designed to make us feel inadequate so that an imaginary heretofore unknown shortcoming in our lives can be solved by someone’s product or service they want to sell us. We are told emphatically that we will be successful if we drive the right car, drink the right beverage, or use the right fragrance.
Success is not that simple, or maybe it’s not that complex. Success is a self-fulfilling prophecy. No one else can define your success any more than they can order your dinner, try on a suit of clothes for you, or tell your doctor where it hurts. When it comes to your personal and professional success, you determine the destination, the deadline, and the details. No one else can do this for you, and you must identify and define your own success if you ever hope to achieve it.
When you want to tune in a certain radio station on a particular frequency, you adjust your radio to get rid of all the static and tune out the competing signals. Defining your own success is similar in that you must first get rid of all the noise and remove all the influences that do not come from your own mind, heart, and soul. If it is your passion and definition of success to become a special education teacher but you listen to messages from well-meaning family and friends urging you to become a corporate CEO, you may find yourself running a massive organization while making millions of dollars and living your life as an abject failure.
In the famous scene in Alice in Wonderland, the Cheshire Cat is asked which path to take. The wise cat inquired, “Where do you want to go?” When the response was, “I don’t know,” the cat stated for the moment and for history, “Then it really doesn’t matter which path you take.”
You can’t achieve a goal you don’t own. It doesn’t matter what others think you should do, ought to do, or might do. All that matters is what you want your life to look like. Often, this process begins with thinking of your perfect day and what activities bring you contentment. Then if you will consider paths that bring you more contentment and eliminate the things you don’t want your days to look like, you will begin to piece together the puzzle which can define your own success.
As you go through your day today, remember there is no success in your life unless it is your own success.
Today’s the day!
Jim Stovall is the president of Narrative Television Network, as well as a published author of many books including The Ultimate Gift. He is also a columnist and motivational speaker. He may be reached at 5840 South Memorial Drive, Suite 312, Tulsa, OK 74145-9082; by email at Jim@JimStovall.com; or on Facebook at Facebook.com/JimStovallAuthor.
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