Saturday, March 12, 2022
I’ve heard that you have to define your own success, and while that may be true at some level, that kind of success never seems to last. Once you earn your diploma, the real work of developing a career begins. Once you get married, the real work of having a successful, intimate partnership begins. But success cannot be a destination, or anything that can be pinned to acquisition or accomplishment. Success is a lifetime of learning about one thing – YOU.
Success is learning how to make better choices, so you can stop hurting yourself. It’s learning about what you have control over and what you don’t. Once you learn what’s within your control, you can let go of what’s not in your control. If you seem to lack success, it could because you’re trying to find it where it doesn’t exist – in that which you have no control over, like the behaviors of others. There is a deeper success that you long for; however. It’s one that answers this question as soon as possible : “What is this situation teaching me about me?” Successful people seek the answers, the ones that reveal to them how they are harming themselves with negative responses to that which they cannot control.
To be successful, turn your attention to learning. Turn your attention to what your situation is teaching you about your own behaviors, words, thoughts, and reactions. Successful people are curious about themselves, in the right kinds of ways, and they are open to the lessons that life wants to teach them. That’s wisdom. Be a lifetime learner about who you really are, what your purpose is, and what you may be doing to cause your own suffering. If you cannot control it, learn to release it. Be wise. Learn about what’s within your control, and you’ll have a lifetime of success.