Define Success with These Three Principles

I heard these words and they altered my vision, I suddenly felt like Neo in the Matrix after he ingested the red pill. My whole high school, university, and corporate career I was blinded by someone else’s definition without realizing that I could define it on my own.

I found that there were three defining principles that allowed me to continue to remain aligned to my authentic definition of success.

Society’s system does a very good job of making us feel validated, once we accomplish a goal we get to tick it off a list, get validation by our peers, or even get a promotion.

When you decide to take the steps to define success for yourself, you need to start giving yourself the validation you previously depended on from external sources. The beauty in that is creating a sustainable perpetual purpose that will consistently make you feel successful.

The key here is to choose a purpose that does not depend on an end goal but instead something that is resilient. For example, my purpose is to learn and create impact. Even if I “fail” I will be learning from that, and make a bigger impact based on my lessons.

This purpose also becomes a funnel for decision making. If any project comes up for me that does not fulfill the purpose I defined for myself, I will not pursue it.

2. Let go

I have “let it go” tattooed on me so I never forget this one, it’s that important. If something is not meant to be, let it go. Life is fluid and flexible, there is no one job, one path, or one size that fits all. A purpose and your definition of yourself are not set in stone either, they are meant to be reassessed and refined.

3. Meditate

Meditation is what makes everything possible, it is so imperative to take time and be by yourself and be able to detach which thoughts and feelings belong to you and which are coming from others.

I understand that meditating can be daunting, but one definition that always helped me is that meditation is anything that you do 100%.

So start with baby steps, when you make your coffee in the morning be there with all your senses, smell the coffee, see the water vapor as it boils, hold the cup in your hand, listen to every sound in the process, and finally take the time to appreciate and taste the coffee.

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