So what is success? I guess that each of us has our own definition. I remember the day I heard my definition of success. I was in my early 20’s – driving around the West, looking for a place for us to call home and start a business. I had just finished a visit with my Uncle Bill in Dallas and he loaned me some Earl Nightingale tapes on “success” to listen to on the road. After 20 minutes of learning what “success” was not, I heard Earl speak the words that would forever frame how I thought about the subject: “Success is the progressive realization of a worthwhile goal.”

What I like about this definition is that it says that if I was moving toward a worthwhile goal, I could feel successful – I didn’t have to wait until I actually achieved that goal. And I didn’t need to feel like a failure along the way. Success is not a destination, it is the journey. Where the real thought comes in is deciding on goals that are worthwhile. Whether you are deciding on your own personal goals or the goals for your business, I encourage you to make them truly meaningful, worthwhile, and specific - for that’s where the power of having goals lies.

There is a difference between an “I want to be a millionaire by the time I’m 40” goal, and one that says “ by the time I’m 40, I want to become the kind of person that creates value in my life by creating value in the lives of others.” The first goal is just a number that you pick that defines success. The wording of the second goal defines how you want to get there and the type of person you must become to be successful. The goals you pick define who you are and who you want to become. Reaching them over your lifetime becomes your legacy. I wish you success.

Tags: Success

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 26th, 2009 at 8:35 am and is filed under Wisdom. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.