America is a country that values success. We put the American dream above all else. But what does success mean? How is success defined? Traditionally, success often correlates to money. To having status because you've leveled up to millionaire. We are a culture that values things more than we value anything else. We are a culture obsessed with the Kardashians, flashy cars, fancy jewels, and oversized homes. And just when you think you've made it - someone else comes along and shows you haven't quite got enough.
Having grown up in a wealthy suburban California town - I understand that success and money go hand in hand. I always dreamed of the day I would become wealthy and be able to not only buy whatever I wanted, but to support my parents as they got older too. I love all the things. The shoes, the shiny jewels, the fancy cars - I enjoy getting my hair and nails done - and I live for traveling. But I also started my career in an industry that traditionally doesn't pay well. Like living off top ramen and paying for gas with change not well. Certainly as I've elevated my career I've elevated my paycheck - but I'm 31 and I am not millionaire.
By American standards, and by the standards of my country club town - I am not successful. That's caused me to stop and think. To reevaluate what success means to me. Because although I'm not a millionaire (yet), I am not a failure. I've built a career that I can be proud of. I've continued to climb the ladder, I've become a mentor to others, and I've set myself up to run my own business one day - and that's certainly not failing.
I've also come to think of success as not strictly related to business. The most successful people are the people that understand work does not define you. When I first started out in my career until very recently - I prioritized work over everything. Even over my health. Eventually I decided my health, my family, and my friends were more important. I didn't want to miss the special occasions, I didn't want to be sick and tired all the time - I wanted balance. And finding a balance between a thriving career and a thriving personal life is success at the highest level.
Ultimately success means having a strong healthy relationship with myself and others, continuing to grow in my career, and being fiscally stable. It's being able to recognize that I will forever be a work in progress and that what makes me the most successful is who I am to myself and to the people most important to me. Money is incredible. Money affords some amazing opportunities - but money doesn't define success. I know a lot of really wealthy people who are utter failures at being decent human beings. And I know people who barely survive and would still give you their last dollar.
Take time to define what success means to you. And then throughout the year evaluate where you're at in relation to your definition of success. Personally - I don't care how much money you have in your bank account if you can't be bothered to be a good person. In my world, success is joy, its passion, its overcoming adversity, its helping others, its so much more than a dollar figure.
What does success mean to you?