What is Success?

Written By Colēgia

Success can be a complicated topic to talk about. Many believe that success is defined by outstanding achievement, status, or a substantial amount of wealth. What if success is more than just what we commonly view it as? Today we want to figure out what success is and how we choose to define it is important.

Breaking it Down

Success is usually defined as “the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.” A good example of what is commonly defined as success is having a high-paying career or someone who achieved something monumental. Other examples of this can include being happy or having a large social network. Some of the reasons why these are considered successful are because they usually depict people in a position who seem to have “made it” in their lives. They don't need to consider things such as financial hurdles or other concepts such as not having many friends. While having goals is important, it's equally important to consider the reasoning behind these goals. If it's for the act of trying to work on a checklist of expectations, can we really call it a success if we're living up to what someone else thinks is good for us?

“While having goals is important, it's equally important to consider the reasoning behind these goals.”

Looking at it Differently

One thing we can do instead is to look at success in a different manner. An example of this is using a skill known as metacognition, or thinking about thinking. Metacognition offers an extremely useful set of skills that come with it such as self-awareness and mindfulness. Both of these can be used to critically think about the idea of success. We can ask ourselves whether the goals we're setting are contributing to our overall sense of well-being. We can also consider where these types of ideas come from and why they're so common. The ability to see things in another manner can give us a more balanced view of the world and concepts as a whole. The idea of working towards success can be good depending on how we view it. Ideally, we want it to empower us which is why thinking about how we define it is important.

“One thing we can do instead is to look at success in a different manner.”

How You Choose to Define it

If we truly want to have a good relationship with the idea of success, we need to choose how we define it. Success is something that is personal to the individual and the satisfaction that comes from your own accomplishments holds a lot of weight. Rather than following the idea of traditionally accepted things that define success, we can opt to make our own guidelines to it. For some, the idea of an extremely well-paying career might not be worth it if it comes at the cost of enjoying the process of work. Likewise, a large social circle doesn't necessarily mean that the relationships within it are deep. Writing down your idea of success and being content with how you go about accomplishing your goals is much better than working towards someone else's idea of success.

Colēgia

Colēgia

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