What does success mean?

Posted by Karen Degen on 25th September 2012

Tags:

To me success isn’t a destination, it’s a journey.  The closer you get to ‘who you want to be’ as a person, then the more successful you are. In has nothing to do with money or power and everything to do with being the best version of you that you can be.

Success comes from knowing you made the effort to become the best that you are capable of becoming. You and only you will know whether you have done that.  There will always be others who are smarter, more talented, more articulate, or better in some way, but there is one way in which you can be second to none, and that is being the best version of you that you can be.

It’s hard to look at others and say “they are successful” because I don’t believe it’s something we can measure in others, except by our own standards.  A person who is recognized as being top of their game and earning a huge income might not have any time for themselves or their family and no time to enjoy life.  By my measurement of success therefore they are not even close. Their measurement of success however might say “I’ve made it”.

I have a little ritual that I practice around success. It’s important that we celebrate our successes, so if I achieve something big I allow myself to feel proud and feel great about myself.  At the same time I say to myself “even if you hadn’t achieved that Karen you would still be good enough”.  This means that next time I fail, don’t achieve what I aimed for, or make a mistake I am pre-programmed to think “I’m still good enough”.