On Your Terms

What is success? If you ask 100 people, you'll get 100 different answers. People have different definitions and different benchmarks. Some people measure success in monetary terms, the square footage of a home, the labels on clothes or the kind of car in the driveway. Others base their definition on professional standards - the title of their job, how many years they've spent at a company, or even how many hours they work. Even still there are those that base their definition of success on relationships - are they in one, are they married, do they have the number of kids they want.

I'm to here to quibble with anyone's definition. I'm here to encourage you to pursue your definition - even if it isn't the definition that someone else wants for you. My definition involves following the beat of my own internal drummer and indulging in my creative pursuits (writing, photography, even performing). That definition runs counter to the more standard definition of those in my family. I've grown to be okay with that. Adopting their recipe for success would be a recipe for unhappiness to me.

Yet, if you find that you've achieved your definition of success or that you are on the way towards acheiving it and you still aren't satisfied or happy. If when you look at the path you are on, you feel something significant is missing, then maybe you should revisit your definition of success.

• Is it based on what someone else wanted for you? - Are you living someone else's dream and not your own.
• Is it too lofty? - If your definition consists of being a billionaire, is that really necessary? Could you be comfortable with just a couple of millions.
• Is it realistic? - Even at my skinniest, I was a 6 -8. A goal to be a size zero wouldn't be realistic, attainable or healthy for me.

Your success is yours and it starts by deciding what you want it to be. It begins and ends with you so make it personal and authentic.