What Is Success?

Of course it would help get the discussion moving if I posted my feelings on it, so here I go...I've known several people who thought that they weren't successful until they earned so much money a year, owned a certain make car (Jaguar or BMW for instance), owned a vacation home, or a big boat. I always looked at these guys and asked them why they thought that money and items were success and they really didn't have an answer. That always bothered me. It made me sad and I felt like they were missing out on the joys of real success.

I live on a beach, where lots of millionaires vacation each year, and I see these so called successful people every day. They have a lot of money coming in, they have the second house on the beach, they have the boat, they have the car, and they look around and say they still want more, but than they also have the mortgages, the bank loans, the lease, and the sky rocketing property taxes. They have the "things" but they also have the debt and stress that comes with them. They tell people that at last they are successful, but than they are sad and depressed and end up with counseling bills on top of everything else, cause they need counseling to find out, why if they are so "successful" why than are they not also happy?

These same summer folks often look at me and my family...5 people and 200+ pets, living in a cabin just under 700 square feet, on an income of less than $20,000 a year, and with a car that gets towed home several times a year cause it's so old and beat up. They often ask us, how we can live like this and be happy. Why aren't we stressed out like they are? Why aren't we striving to be "successful" like them?

My answer is always the same. What is success? Is it money? Is it big houses and fancy cars? No. It is a family that loves you. It is having a job that allows you to stay home with your family, even if it doesn't make you rich. It is taking care of animals that were abandoned by their previous owners and knowing that they are now happy and safe. It is being able to walk to the beach each day and see the sunrise or the sunset, even if our house is the smallest one in town. It's going to the movies with our children and talking about why we liked it on the drive home. It's the weekly pizza nights, when we sit around talking and laughing in a tiny local pizza parlor, where we are so regular that they save our seats and know what to order without our seeing the menu.

No, success can not be counted in dollars and cents; success is counted in hours and minutes, laughter and tears...success in when you have a family that loves you, that you enjoy spending time with, and no amount of money can ever buy that.

"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm."

- Winston Churchill

"My will shall shape the future. Whether I fail or succeed shall be no man's doing but my own. I am the force; I can clear any obstacle before me or I can be lost in the maze. My choice; my responsibility; win or lose, only I hold the key to my destiny."

- Elaine Maxwell

What do you feel is the reason for success in your life? It could be personal success or business success. I think personal and business success go and in hand, because if one is failing than the other will soon follow. For me, I'd have to say my top 5 would be:

#1) Family. Always putting family first helps keep your business in perspective and makes for a happy life.

#2) Passion. Do what you love. Love what you do. If it doesn't make you happy, don't do it.

#3) Knowledge. Know how to do everything yourself, even if you have someone else to do it. A boss who doesn't know the business will not be the boss for long!

#4) Lack of greed. Love of money is the root of all evil. If you start putting money first in your life, you'll start losing your personal happiness. Seek happiness first, the rest will follow.

#5) Kindness. Be kind to everyone and never let the sun set on your anger. Forgive, forget, and seek not revenge. Always treat everyone as you would want them to treat you.

I think that the way you spend your time determines wither you succeed or flop too. I mean, how can you be successful if you just sit around in front of the flat screen tv all day? You got to get out there and actually DO something in order to succeed.

Life isn't about making money, it is about what you do with it. All the money in the world is not worth a thing if you aren't happy and making others around you happy too. Happiness first, money later. Even though time is money, no amount of money can buy back time wasted, either.

"It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something."

- Franklin D. Roosevelt