Success

I love to learn.  That’s probably why I ENJOY failing so much — each time I fail I learn a new lesson.  Hang in there with me today as my story today is going to take a couple of twists and turns…

There’s a couple of quotes/phrases that always seem to make their way to the front of my mind.

• From Lewis Carroll – “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there”
• From Steven Covey – “Begin with the end in mind”

As I wrote about previously, the unconscious mind is amazing and yesterday it showed me just how amazing it is.  The above quotes have been bouncing around for years in my head.  They just won’t leave me alone.  And I’ve been using the heck out of them in all areas of my life.  My specific focus on goals and end states has enabled me to achieve success in countless ways.  And yet these two quotes keep coming back to me again and again.  Why is that?  Why won’t my unconscious mind put these two quotes away?  Why does it keep bringing them back to visit me?

Yesterday it clicked.  Again, bear with me….  My focus on goals and end states has been awesome!  It’s allowed me to achieve just about every goal or end state that I’ve targeted:  a great family, a healthy body, success as a fisherman, success as a golfer, launching my own business, writing a book, and achieving financial independence at the age of 47.  However, my focus on goals and end states has actually been a failure!!!   Don’t get me wrong, I couldn’t be happier with where I am, the blessings that have been bestowed upon me, and all that I have accomplished.  However, I’ve failed to heed both Carroll and Covey’s advice.

• I’ve never taken the time to define success.

The challenge in front of me is figure out the answer to the question “How do you define success in life?”.  Once I figure out the answer to that question, I’ll have a clear picture of the end state and know which road I need to follow.  The challenge that I face is similar to that that many face.  Once you’ve achieved success on one level, your unconscious mind turns to the question “Is that all there is?”  While it’s poor form to answer a question with a question, you need to answer with the question “How do you define success?”.  Once you figure that one out, you’ll be able to figure out what’s next.  I’ll let you know when I get done wrestling with this one, but don’t expect an answer any time soon as it’s a bit of a challenging question!

With that in mind:

How do you define success?

As always, thanks for the time.