In a conversation I had with an artist, she mentioned wanting to be successful. I then asked her how she would know when she was successful. She said, “That’s a really good question…I’m not sure I know the answer yet.” I read her this quote from Booker T. Washington:
Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles he has overcome.
– Booker T. Washington 1915
We then had a great conversation around what we think we want versus what truly brings us joy and satisfaction. Success can mean so many things; the real challenge is knowing what it means in your own life. Do you measure success in terms of money, power, lessons learned, people you know and love, property values or successful career moves? Do you measure success by your bank balance, job title, street address, or how much you love and have been loved? Maybe you measure it by the people whose lives are better because you were their friend? Or maybe, like the artist I spoke with, you are still understanding what success means in your life.
I appreciated these words from Booker T. Washington as they provide a simple way to measure the multitude of our years by what we have overcome rather than what we have amassed…even if that is not how our culture or the internet wants us to think. The most successful people I know, the ones who are truly happy in their lives, they think about success as a process not an event or an item to obtain.
Let me challenge you to take time today to think about your own definition of success. What are you proud of? What do you want more of in your days to come? And what do you want to change and overcome in order to be the best version of yourself? What you think success is today may not apply next month or next year. Having the courage to face your world with an open mind, a clear idea of who you want to be AND embracing the obstacles you have overcome…Booker T. Washington would say that you are VERY successful. Take time today to confirm that for your own self.
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