The inner life of success

How do you measure your success?  How would you even know if you were successful?

As a society, we have become accustomed to seeing success as external: we think of the status, the money, the titles, the corner office, the car, the health care plan... There are so many 'things' that can be labeled as success.

Yet the irony is, that the only reason we long for these rewards is because of the way we believe they will make us feel.  Although we are programmed to recognise success externally, few of us have been taught that success is mostly internal.  We have had to learn it the hard way.

We may search for the admiration of others through our collection of 'success symbols' but, the secret is, others can never say enough to complete us, to fill us internally.

I would prefer to consider success as a feeling inside.  It does not have to mean that we have achieved our goal, it may mean that we are taking steps towards it.  Internal success has a glow to it that others notice.  It's not tired, cynical or jaded.  It is fresh and alive, exuding enthusiasm, hope, and confidence... it's alive and vibrant.

The most potent examples of successful living are, for me, people who have had the courage to follow a dream when others would have said, 'It's too late', or 'I didn't do it then, why rock the boat now?'  I'm deeply inspired by people who believe strongly enough in who they are and their ability to create the life of their dreams that they refuse to follow the herd.  They take calculated risks to go after their dream and make it real.  Even when the going is tough for these pioneers, they stick with it because their dream has created such a strong pull towards personal fulfillment (another 'successful emotion', I believe) that their success is almost guaranteed.  Why? Because they have committed to it from the bottom of their hearts.

We can get too caught up in the opinions of others and lose track of what is truly meaningful in our lives.  And, we can always turn a corner, and take some small step to creating our lives in a way that we define as success, in a way that fulfills and uplifts us.

Where does your inner success lie?  We'd love to hear from you.