What is the True Meaning of Success?

According to society success comes in the form of wealth. To be truly successful you must have the big house, the six figure income and the perfect family. 

Women are not portrayed as successful unless they can "have it all." They need to be able to work and raise a family...all the time not letting either suffer.  We are inundated with being the "perfect" woman.

Men are under pressure to provide in a big way for the family.  They need to provide all those extras for the family. They fall short of the success ideal if they are unable to keep up with the Jones'. 

We are surrounded by this crazy ideal of success and perfection.

What is success really? 

According to WordNet Dictionary online the meaning of success is: An event that accomplishes its intended purpose.

If we think of our lives as the "event" then we must think about what is our intended purpose for our life? That simple question will help us focus in on our personal meaning of success. Success then becomes very personal in regard to what our "intended purpose" of life is.  What is our intended purpose for our families, our children, school or our professional life? 

By breaking down our intended purposes in these life areas we will find that that success is attainable! It is important to break down these goals into smaller steps.  I encourage my clients to think  "baby steps" and keep moving forward in the direction of their life goal.  If you keep moving forward you will get there! The important thing is to keep moving forward.

If you keep moving forward you will get there!

Utilizing your values as a guide will help you define what your true life's purpose is and set goals to live out your values. It is difficult to be successful if we are conflicted.  We cannot have our lives out of sync with what our core values for our life are.  When this happens we will feel out of sorts and off balance.  By focusing in on our core values we can lead a more authentic life. When we allow ourselves to be our more authentic selves we will find that we have lower stress and are able to attain our life goals easier. 

If we can buy into the true meaning of success we will find that we can be successful everyday.  

Here is a worksheet to help you think about your core values, areas of life/satisfaction in those areas and moving forward.

Don't buy into what societies measure of success is...
find out what your personal meaning of success is!
 S. Isaacs