REDEFINING SUCCESS

PEOPLE tend to give us advice based not only from their mistakes and experiences but from their definition of what it means to be successful. Often due to the limited opportunities they had themselves (particularly those from a different generation) they have weighted a secure job with financial gain the sole element in becoming successful.

For those of us privileged enough, which is most of us given you’re able to read this, we now have more opportunities than ever before to pursue something that were actually interested in. Now more than ever we’re able to reevaluate the importance of external ‘power and success’. The continued pressure to follow your skills in order to secure a high paying job – as logical as it sounds- may not be the only path for you.

The pressure to settle for something we don’t enjoy at age twenty-one is an outdated necessity with the growing breadth of opportunity in the world.

Though it’s taken me some time to acknowledge (and ironically enough a degree), the pressure to attend university and get a corporate/well paid job in order to achieve a predetermined idea of success is something that in this generation ought to be challenged. Admittedly, money is an unavoidable factor in order to live but you don’t have to do a job you hate in order to do it. Remember work to live, not live to work.

We’re now in a time where it’s possible to subvert the definition of richer to relate to something other than financial gain to refer to something like relationships, travel, experiences and happiness! 

I used to think there was a problem with the idea that there was a relationship between success and being rich, ultimately leading to happiness. When in fact it was my definition of those concepts and how I integrated them into my life that was the problem. You are not going to be successful earning a six figure salary when you lack fulfilment and wholehearted relationships in other aspects of your life. I know that each of us theoretically knows all this but it’s not until you lead a life that truly acknowledges the lack of personal power that is obtained with a well paid job that you hate. For me, in order to be successful in my work I need to feel rich in fulfilment, progression and my ability to help people. My success in relationships reflects in the richness of conversation, experiences, trust and being present in moments.

Most importantly success within myself is a reflection in my ability to live a life that ultimately enriches my soul.