Sunday, April 22, 2012

Success Made Simple

Stream of Consciousness Sunday has a very ambitious topic for today. It’s scope scares me just a bit and I’m not sure why (maybe because I have only 5 short minutes?) Here it is:


What is success to you and how will you know when you achieve it? And here goes:

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“Success is a Journey, Not a Destination.”  Ben Sweetland

Success in my life, to me, is really very simple. I feel successful when I have made the people in my life happy. I feel successful when we are all loving and getting along. I feel successful when I am forgiven for my mistakes. I feel successful when I’m appreciated. I feel successful when I feel happy at the same time as everyone else which is sometimes the tricky piece of the puzzle.

I try to measure my success on an everyday basis. Some days are very very successful. Others…not so much! A happy day equals a successful day.

Is my idea of success in my life simplistic? Some may say so and I don’t really care. It's MY life. If people around me are happy, I’m happy. I know FOR SURE that if I’m happy, it’s likely they will be too.

I believe I can tell if I’ve achieved my little piece of success regularly. I can feel it in the way people interact with me and their attitude, or their opinion of me, or their desire to be around me. Long term success… We will just have to see who sticks around. I feel most will, if not all.

So I guess that will be the yardstick at the end of my life. Who will surround me when the time comes? Who will my life have mattered to? If a few people stuck around...I would consider that a success.




“I don’t know the key to Success, BUT the key to Failure is trying to please everybody.” Bill Cosby

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13 comments:

  1. Finding success in the everyday is a fantastic idea. I should try to do that more often myself.

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    1. One small step at a time! It helps me feel like I've accomplished something even if it's tiny.

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  2. I will have to try this. I haven't been feeling too successful lately--time for a new perspective!

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    1. Keep it small and realistic. Easier to measure that way and feel a sense of accomplishment. I am way too simple, probably for my own good, but it feels right to me. All I ever really want to be is happy, anyway.

      I think you are very successful with your blog. I read it ALL the time!

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  3. Love the Bill Cosby quote! Well said and it sounds like you are a very balanced and accepting person with all the right priorities.

    leslie

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    1. I so very much like the Bill Cosby quote and how true!!!

      I'm working very hard to stay on track with priorities and balancing the best I can!

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  4. Now i'm really thinking about success. Some sort of achievement in a day which I don't feel that often actually...

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    1. I do better with small steps. Easier to feel good about things. Easier to achieve.

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  5. Any time I finish my day with a smile I call that a successful day.

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    1. Pretty much my point, Jack and right on target. A happy day = A successful day!

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  6. you have an evolved perspective on life. you are blessed. the cosby quote is so good. i've been readjusting my criteria for success the last several years. it's a good process, painful, but worthwhile and necessary for mental stability and a positive outlook.

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  7. That's really interesting that your sense of success comes more from the people that you surround yourself with rather than something inside of you. I don't think there's a wrong answer. I'll take a happy day any day!

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    1. It does come from inside me. Success to me, what's important to me, are good relationships in my life. If they are good and healthy, I feel great. If I'm happy, I feel successful.

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