The Inner Success Mode, What Secret?

Have you ever sat down to think how success is measured? So many people dream about being “successful” but there’s really no definition of what that really is. Does being successful mean that you’ve finally earned a ton of money and you’re rich? It could also mean that you finally got that promotion and are head of the company, or that your boyfriend proposed, or even that you finally found a job! We all have a different concept of success and this is what makes me wonder if there’s really a secret to it or not. I personally believe that success has nothing to do with a secret, or even “The Secret”, it’s about how you feel inside and about who you are.

I read a lot online and usually come across the most particular things. As I was doing some research today I found a post written by a writer/filmmaker in his late 30’s, he was writing about being a successful person yet not being able to feel successful, if that makes any sense. He had a great creative job in the entertainment industry and had produced a few small plays and short films for which he had received good reviews and had been shown at film festivals. He sounds pretty successful if you ask me, but he apparently feels that he’s going nowhere and I quote him “There’s been no life-altering recognition, how come I never feel successful?”.

Ah! Maybe it’s about expectations! Most people always seem to aim towards all the big stuff, the big job, the fancy car, the expensive toys, the trophy wife, etc., if you aim that high you’re bound to be disappointed at some level. Another person I read earlier today was this other guy on a forum, he was the complete opposite of the filmmaker, he considered himself a very successful man and shared his secret: you had to live in Califo ia, have a blog, do some sucking up, talk ___ and take risks. I certainly doubt very much that this guy has unmasked the “secret” but then again, maybe he has, he FEELS successful and therefore he is. Sitting around wishing and hoping to find the illusive secret to success is a waste of time in my opinion. I like to compare this to weight loss, if you feel, live and act thin then you’ll probably have more success at arriving at “thin”.

Life should always be about the little things and this also applies to success. I woke up feeling great this morning and it was all due to more than 5 hours sleep, that’s success right there! Yesterday I finished some home improvement chores and my home is looking great, so much that I might have some people over this weekend, again, that’s success to me. If and when we aim so high, we tend to blind ourselves to all the little successful moments that daily life brings.

We need to teach the filmmaker a little lesson, success can also mean just being completely satisfied with our lives. We must pay attention to the fulfillment of all our personal goals and achievements, no matter how small they are. Success is a feeling, it’s an emotion and too much emphasis on emotion sometimes leaves us more or less helpless to influence our lives.