Mark, Popular question this time of the year (-: time to reflect and look forward I guess..

Success is a very interesting concept.. and as Wendy points out totally different from person to person. 

It seems like the society in in general (the media in particular) is trying to simplify this rather complex “success phenomenon” to be wealth, big house, fast car, beautiful body, stunning partner etc. I’ll leave it up to you to make your own conclusions on why that is…. 

So prompted by your question I sat down and thought through what success was to me and in that process I tried to categories some measurable areas I could focus on (aren’t we IT people so sadly focused on structure..)

Anyhow I decided that the following were the categories that I would evaluate:

· Physical well being -> Am I healthy, Am I treating my body with respect

· Relationships -> Do I have meaningful, loving relationships

· Leisure time  -> Do I take enough time to “play” and spend time with family, friends and loved once and what is enough time?

· Spiritual  -> Am I in balance with my values, and my beliefs be it religious or otherwise 

· Finances -> Is my financial situation where I want it to be?

· Business -> Is my business / Work where I want it to be

· Personal development -> am I spending enough time on personal development and learning

· Contributions -> do I contribute to make the society / world a better place? Be it financially, time, ideas or otherwise

· Gratitude -> do I show gratitude for what I have at this stage in my life

Those were the key areas I used to assess my level of success they are not necessarily listed in any particular order however it is not coincidental that health features at the top of my list as I firmly believe that without good health most other things really doesn’t matter much..

As most people I could obviously not answer yes to all questions but it has given me a good indication where I need to focus my attention and improve things this year.. 

Success to me is achieving the lifestyle and goals that you set for yourself. This can be different to everyone, someone may find that having a great loving family and kids is success and some define it to be a multi-billionaire and both of that to me is success if that's what you want.

Of course as people's expectations of themselves change so will your "successfulness". I don't feel that external pressures for success is necessarily a good indication because how are you successful if you are living your life for other people?

I also beleive success is made of of success in different areas as well, someone defined as successful usually is someone with a great uni degree, great business or job and they make a lot of money and buy expensive houses and cars, however maybe their personal life is unsuccessful - it's a balance , an addition of all areas of life. I don't think success is a blanket term :).

For myself - my idea of success is to have a comfortable flexible lifestyle with a great family and doing what I love to do every day. I'm not attached to how I get there, but when I get there I guess I'll know :)? Sorry for being kind of vague, still a journey of self-discovery to do. 

Hey Mark,

For me success is knowing your purpose and vision, everything else comes from that. To be more exact success for me is running my own business, living the lifestyle I want, doing what I Iove and loving what I do, nothing beats that in my opinion.

Cheers 

I'd be interested to find out what you define success at Mark :)

Simple.

Success to me is waking up every morning with a positive attitude, a gratefulness of just being alive, and a smile on my face knowing that I do what I love for a living, and being able to provide for the important people in my life. 

Success is happiness and responsibility. 

It's impossible to define. Perhaps it's when others start coming to you for advice, having seen you gone from strength to strength and wanting to know what you're doing right or differently to what they are currently doing.

Success is a very personal thing. Success should be defined by your financial, lifestyle and other goals and aspirations, rather than what society says they “should” be. It’s crazy that we consistently let others dictate what it means to be successful. That generally means money and material possessions by the way.

But what about health, happiness, peace and love for starters? Why don’t they get measured more openly when evaluating a person’s success?

And what if your success goal for being in business is simply making enough so that your family can go on a paid vacation every year? Or you can afford the cost of private school fees? Or braces for Amanda?

That’s why I talk about building a "Higher Purpose Business” – one that revolves around the values and aspirations of the owner of the business, particularly those linked to their personal higher purpose.  

Success if not money, what you own or even how many people know you.

Success is understanding that fame, money and business opportunites will come and go. Wealth and fame are fleeting and will not fill your soul if you are empty. 

1. Being content 
Out of debt with enough assets and passive cash flow that you can choose to work or not. 

2. Community
Success is having both your health and a desire to help strangers in your community. Understanding that life is more about helping others, than striving for personal gain.

3. Family
Success is having the love and trust of your family. When you are gone, they miss you and phone you. Hearing the words "I love you" sincerely and genuinely.

4. Friendship
Success is not having a large number of superficial friends. 
It is having a network of trusted professional friendships, treasured friends and those who are your sister/brother from another mother.