You Deserve To Choose What Success Means To You

As I’ve grown older, I’ve realized that you must define what success looks like to you. But what’s more, that it doesn’t have to mimic someone else’s version of success.

For one person, it could mean climbing the corporate ladder, but for another it could mean removing yourself from the ladder entirely and defining your metrics based on other things, such as family, your health and well-being, or your relationships. Whatever you decide to define success by, I hope you find comfort in knowing that you don’t have to play by someone else’s’ rules—you can opt to create your own.

Every time I did things for someone else’s happiness, I ended up incredibly unhappy myself. Then it would burden me for as long as I could handle, before I eventually made the difficult decision to carve my own path and set goals that were true and authentic to me. I think that if more people in the world followed what they wanted to do and stopped listening to what others think they should do, they would not only be happier but achieve more success in doing so. But that’s just my perspective.

It’s up for you to decide.

You, the reader, must decide what’s true to you and be brave enough to go after it whole-heartedly. Whatever you decide, I hope you take comfort in knowing that you made the choice for yourself because you deserve to live your life to its fullest potential—whatever that may mean to you.

And if you just so happen to read these words and realize you’d like to choose a different path, then be proud of yourself for making that difficult choice, because separating from the crowd is perhaps one of the most difficult things you can do. But it’s also the most amazing thing you can do.