If you are hoping to find a concrete definition of success here, you aren’t going to find it. My personal definition of success is going to be pretty different from, say, someone who wants to become a movie star. I think I would have to feed some poor paparazzo his camera if he invaded my family’s privacy. But someone else might consider permanent flash blindness some measure of success.
So, how could a self-proclaimed “Guide to Successful Living” not define “success?” You see, I refuse to define success for you. I don’t want to take your hopes and dreams and replace them with mine. You wouldn’t be happy and you would have every right to write us off as yet another empty “I’m happy! So, why aren’t you?” piece of garbage on the Internet. The aspiring movies stars out there can breath easier.
I would like to welcome all the budding rock stars, the housewives, the millionaires in the making, the hard working mentors, the aspiring pro athletes, the selfless Peace Corps volunteers, and everyone else who has a goal in sight and is taking steps (even small ones) in the direction of their dreams.
I would also like to welcome those of you who take a look around and don’t really like where you are. You may be jealous of your neighbor’s new car, struggling with debt, languishing in a dead end job, unhappy in a relationship, or anyone else who laughs in the face of someone who dares to utter the words, “American dream.”
Success was the first renewable natural resource and will be around long after every oil well runs dry. But like every other natural resource, it’s not just lying on the ground to be picked up and put in your pocket. That would be too easy. It has to be mined, worked, and polished before it reaches its ultimate potential. And for those of you who think gold comes from jewelry stores and meat comes from the grocery, this means that achieving success takes work… and sometimes, a lot of it.
The truth is that you probably already have some idea of what success means to you. The problem is that there are a lot of people out there who aren’t taking steps toward reaching their goals. You may be too busy, or you might not even know where to begin. Well, while nobody but YOU can tell you how to be successful, I think we can help. In the weeks to come, we’ll walk you through writing down your own definition of success, writing down a plan to accomplish that success, and providing some encouragement along the way to living successfully.
Is there anyone still listening out there? If so, let us know. If you are really winning at life, leave a comment and shout it from the rooftop… If you are struggling, leave a comment to let us know you need someone to put an arm around your shoulder. Every week we would like to customize out blog posts to the previous week’s comments. Since we’re new around here, we want to know who’s out there.
Next week: I’ll have what’s she’s having!
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