~ Ridhima Yadav
Is there any concrete definition of success? Is there a difference between real success and success? Do we measure success through material means? Muddiness and confusion are cemented around the whole concept of “success” and its definition. “We all hear and talk about it, dream, think, wonder about it, work for it, seek it, find it, lose it again, but one must ask the basic question what is it, exactly?” Writers have mentioned their insights as to how a person can achieve success but very few of them made it clear what it really is and stands for. Society has been stuck in this intangible concept for a long time. Some people measure success through wealth but there are many rich people who are unhappy.
You are your own Priority
While others measure the same through fame, however, the tabloids are full of sleazy and unsavoury pieces of news that makes these well-known personalities go into a downward spiral. The first thing that is crucial to mention while defining success is that there is no one particular meaning for this. Success certainly is elusive in reality and subjective in its comprehension. People differ from one another when they define success. When it is said that a person is successful, then it is intended to say that he/she achieved the desired vision and planned goal. Now it is significant here to set your goals according to your own priorities and not to get influenced by others. The only person who can define success for you is YOU. For every person prosperity is not in terms of money, rather some find themselves to be prosperous when they find the purpose of their life, or when they are living a fulfilling, wholesome and soulful life.
Key steps to achieve success:
- Be aware of your own self: One must always be self-aware and set their priorities in accordance with their likings and dislikings. If one gets influenced by societal pressure and other individuals, then for them success will be standardised as something that’s given to them by the society which will keep them under constant badgering. Therefore, forget about the definitions set for you and define the concept on your own terms.
- Seek knowledge, not the result: When a person sets desired goals for themselves, then they aim only at the end result without caring much for the process. If the person enjoys the process, then it will become an end in itself and the person will achieve a sense of fulfilment and inner-satisfaction. Keep your mindset flexible because a rigid person will infer that intelligence, creativity is ethereal and cannot be changed. But, a person with a growth mindset will be prone to adaptability and will be able to achieve success through passion, toil and training.
- Take action but don’t chase success: Some people feel that they will get success by reading motivational quotes, attending inspiring talks etc. These sessions definitely will help you to get encouraged in order for you to take action. But what’s seminal is for you to initiate action. Also, don’t chase success, chase the happiness, contentment, fulfilment that will make you understand the definition of success on its own.
Start accepting ambiguity, be capable of adjustment, be courageous to accept failures because the biggest failure is not failing but not to have even tried.
Why are the current standards of success wrong?
The only parameter set to judge whether or not a person is successful is through their prosperity and wealth. The person’s social status on the ladder is predefined through their financial status. Keeping success relative to material means is the ultimate fallacy because here as a society we are cancelling all other definitions or parameters of success that people might have set for themselves. While for some person success may mean owning a luxury car, for some others it may mean attainment in the spiritual world.
Chasing Success
Chasing success has become so common that people have grown to be envious of each other and it is of utmost importance to realise that life is not a competition. It is something that needs to be enjoyed and nurtured. Associating success and failure with right and wrong respectively is another point where we are going wrong as such explanations lead to people becoming fearful of failure and not even giving a try to achieve their desired goals. Furthermore, even if a person is successful then it is not their own as it completely lies in the hands of other people’s opinions. Success doesn’t lie within rather it lies outside. If society deems a person as successful then he/she is and if not then they are not. Always remember that success is not a destination as there’s no existential premise for it. There is only one thing that is constant and that is CHANGE. Life is an ever-changing experience that is meant to be lived on one’s own terms in which success can never be a competition. There is no one metric that has been agreed upon to measure success and the same goes with the definition. Reminisce, that you need to create your own definition of success, rather than society creating one for you!
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