131 How do you define success?

How you engage what’s next in life has a lot to do with how you answer this question: How do you define success? Different people give different answers, but the most important answer, for your life, is yours!

This week’s Inspire Me quote is from Ken Gire:

“You are a success if, at the end of your life, the people who knew you the best are the ones who respect you the most.“

Whether we evaluate what success is by the media’s, our friends’, or even the dictionary’s definition, we often see that we tie money in with being successful. But is it the money that makes us truly happy? Or just the options it gives us? Many Americans would say that money = success, yet 67 percent of the population doesn’t meet the dollar threshold they say points to success. Does that mean most of us are destined to feel unsuccessful?

Take a look at other factors. Look at your marriage, your children, your spiritual walk, your health, your money management skills—does anything in those areas make you feel successful?

Quotes from the show:

• “People are so unique and so different. […] There’s a strong possibility that one person might define success very different from the next.” —Armin
• “That’s almost an equation we have in America. That success equals material wealth.” —Leary
• “We allow society, people, or whatever to define success for us, and we accept that. […] I’ve allowed society to tell me what I need to have and what I need to show for me to accept myself as successful because I have to be able to see it in their eyes, that they think I’m successful.” —Armin
• “Contentment is being satisfied with what you have. Being able to make the range of choices within that scope and saying, ‘I feel pretty good about my range of agency within the constraints that I have. And I’m managing that pretty well.’ That’s happiness. That’s contentment.” —Leary
• “Envy is internal bankruptcy.” —Leary
• “What would life look like for you to have that feeling of success?” —Armin
• “Success is in how well you keep doing the things that are important to you, how well you keep getting better at what you need to get better at.” —Leary
• “When you are able to impart something truly authentic to someone else, […] that is a measure of success.” —Leary

This week’s Challenge Me:

Our challenge comes in two parts. First, process what success means by taking the time to define it for yourself. What in your life makes you feel successful? Second, involve your spouse (or the closest person to you, whom you don’t need to impress) and revise. Get the other person’s input on where you are successful already and gain some accountability for areas you can be successful in the future.

Comments? Questions? Stories from your own life? Share them with us in the comments below.

Resources mentioned in or related to this podcast episode:

• Henri J. M. Nouwen’s book, Bread for the Journey.