What Success Means

What Success Means to Me

 

Success means different things to various people. To some people success means climbing to the top, having lots of money and valuables or being powerful. To some success is doing what they always dreamed or to be the best at whatever they are. Success to me is a bit different because it is about God and about a certain attitude.

A saying that I have always had is this, “Don’t base your success on what you have but on the impact you have on other’s lives.” Simply put, you can’t take it with you but you can make a difference. Growing up, there was always a certain cloud of negativity over everything and anything we did or accomplished so it was very hard as an adult to try to rid myself of these views.

Philippians 4:11(n.d KJV Scofield Reference Edition Bible) states “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state that I am, therewith to be content.” I would like to add to this statement. Do not just be content but count your blessings. I guess this is what I refer to when I speak of attitude. You can choose to feel successful. You can affirm to yourself that life is what you make it.

For me to feel successful, I have to feel as though I am doing more than just for myself. It is easy to be selfish and think only about one’s self. The feeling of accomplishment when you have helped others, or an animal, or the environment to me is feeling success.

What I did learn in my Student Success class isn’t so much about success as much as it is about self image. How I look at myself, how I judge myself and my own self-talk. The Leo videos reiterated what I already knew but needed to hear put in words. In other words, “Life is what you make it”, or you can see the cup half full or half empty it is your choice.

For example, my ex-husband has a new house, a new car and plenty of money but he is not happy with it. He wants more, because he is not happy with himself. Somehow is gratification is not in what he accomplishes. So, because he is not happy with himself, he will never be happy with what he has. To him, success will never be obtained.

I had to learn in my life to appreciate the little things in life. A smile from my child, my dog’s wagging tail, the beauty of the sunset because for me poverty was always lurking at the door. I found happiness and success in actually having enough money to pay the rent or being able to take the kid’s out to Wendy’s because often times, I didn’t have the money.

I think self-value and self-worth are often confusing for some individuals. If a person does not have either of these two, they will never be able to define success. Nothing can be a success to a person who always wants more or who does not value who they are.

When I get a 100% on a test that is a small piece of success, because it boosts my ego and my self-worth. Graduating from Sanford Brown will be part of my success. That is my personal success.

The second part of success to me has to do with others. Being able to make new friends, making a difference in other’s lives and feeling like I accomplished something worthwhile at the end of the day to me is success. Closing my eyes at night knowing I helped someone is success. I’ve spent my life in factories working for another person to get rich off of my hard work. There was no happiness for me in working there. Helping others through the medical field would be making a difference in others lives. It has always been what I wanted to do.

The third part of success to me, which is the most important part is spiritual. I have a great desire to please the Lord and serve Him with all my heart. Helping others would make that possible which would be success to me because I accomplished something I wanted.

Back to defining success. According to www.wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn ,is defined as an event that accomplishes it’s intended purposes. This means to me that I set a goal and achieve it. My goal is to be able to live independently without help from my parents and not feel as though I am a burden. Going to Sanford Brown will help me achieve that goal. By taking one step at a time, a day at a time, a goal at a time, I will be successful in this goal.

According to Lou Tice, in the videos from class, “Thoughts accumulate and become belief,” and “People with low self-esteem will belittle those with high self-esteem to make that person feel like less to make themselves feel better.” Because I deal with this at home, I need to work on my self-talk to improve my self-image.