What is success?

By TRISOFT team

Success is a multifaceted concept. It’s not easily defined, it may be complicated and even risky to assess, and ultimately it’s a personal concept. Some say that by defining what it represents to you on a personal and assumed level, you will actually move more in the direction of success.

So what would you answer if I were to ask you “how do you feel about success?” Most people would say: I feel awesome about it, I want more of it, I think I deserve it, I am working on getting it. All these feelings about success are so common because people usually associate success with the best aspects of their lives — health, material benefits, career accomplishments. Obviously, success can include all of these things …and more.

Success is a continuous journey

Success can mean so many different things. It can be that tingle of excitement about what you do in life, it can come down to sticking with what matters regardless of the circumstances or maybe living a life you can feel proud of in retrospect. The feeling of success usually starts creeping into our lives very early, even with the first steps we take as toddlers. And then it’s maybe the first word we can write, the first important exam and all those that follow, finding a great job, finding our soulmate, traveling the world, sharing our experience and oh so many others.

Slowly, but surely, we become addicted to that feeling of accomplishment and happiness that comes with being successful in various areas of our lives. And, as we start seeking it fiercely, we also start acknowledging the fact that everything is connected; and in order to gain success we have to be in a constant and permanent search for our better self.

Does having a lot of money equals being successful?

To some people the epitome of being a success is having a big monthly paycheck. In fact society seems to base the whole concept of success primarily on how much money a person earns. But then again, society’s definition has often more to do with flash than it does with substance. Frankly, it is pretty odd how so many people define success as making (or having) lots and lots of money. And the simple reason why this is strange is that many of these people are stressed, tired and miserable. Most of the times, those who associate success with money have become irreparably addicted with the feeling that earning great amounts equals being happy. And as they struggle to find happiness this way, they often miss out on what really makes people happy. This is how many so-called successful people end up very unhappy in their personal life.

Of course, all things considered, everyone would prefer to be rich and happy rather than poor and happy :) However, we strongly believe that it’s easier to get rich if you start from a place of being happy with what you are doing and, most importantly, why you are doing it.

Now here’s a personal question — what is success?

As we’ve already established, success comes in many different forms, so your definition of being a success might not be the same as mine and vice versa. But to make a starting point, the very first thing you should do is take the time to decide on your idea of success, on what it means to you. Never mind what it means to anyone else, what does it mean to you?

Forming a personal and relevant idea about your outlook on success will help you set your goals accordingly, which undoubtedly will make your pathway to success smoother. Forget about the standards being imposed by someone else’s definition, build your own way and you will feel much more accomplished. If you don’t do this, there is a good chance you will waste a lot of time and energy chasing someone else’s version of the word.

What does success mean to you?

So we went around asking people what success means to them. Just to get an idea of how age, occupation, sex and other simple factors can influence or even completely change the definition. Generally women tend to associate success more with being healthy and having a good family environment, while men are more inclined to connect it to career. Young women seem to think that success is directly proportional with the age, while older women are sure it has nothing to do with it. And what we found pretty interesting is that men have a tendency of adopting women’s belief system as they grow older and wiser :) Of course, these are just general lines. Combined, all the definitions we received have actually offered us an insight into what success really means.

And here are some more insights we have found:

Success is ….

…doing what you love — Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. — Albert Schweitzer

…following your own path — A successful life is one that is lived through understanding and pursuing one’s own path, not chasing after the dreams of others. — Chin-Ning Chu

…living each moment — Life is a succession of moments. To live each one is to succeed.– Corita Kent

…overcoming obstacles — Success is not measured by what a man accomplishes, but by the opposition he has encountered and the courage with which he has maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds. –Charles Lindbergh

…treating people well — Never loose sight of the fact that the most important yardstick of your success will be how you treat other people — your family, friends, and co-workers, and even strangers you meet along the way. — Barbara Bush

…excelling in multiple areas of your life — I believe that being successful means having a balance of success stories across the many areas of your life. You can’t truly be considered successful in your business life if your home life is in shambles. — Zig Ziglar

…doing your best — The man who has done his level best, and who is conscious that he has done his best, is a success, even though the world may write him down as a failure. — B.C. Forbes

…seeking and finding love — The person who tries to live alone will not succeed as a human being. His heart withers if it does not answer another heart. His mind shrinks away if he hears only the echoes of his own thoughts and finds no other inspiration. — Pearl S. Buck

…leaving the world a better place — What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal. — Albert Pike

…success is many things — To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;

To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;

To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;

To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.

This is to have succeeded. — Bessie Stanley

Can we have it all?

It’s definitely not an easy job to find what success means to you. It’s about internalizing feelings and thoughts, experience and emotions, while at the same time taking into account external factors. There is no universal truth, no golden rule you can go by. It can be about money, about influence, about obtaining what you are set out to obtain and being happy with yourself. It can be about family, about having emotional stability and good health. And eventually, one question lingers: can we have it all? Can we or should we even wish to combine all the definitions into one and struggle to get it all? The question is for everyone, but the answer really concerns each of us, at a private level

At TRISOFT, we’ve learned that success can come in many shapes, just as the challenges we are confronted with day by day. And while every single member of our team is eager to find their own way to success, together, we all have a say and an influence in the progress and development of our business, which also represents every one of us, individually. Because success to us has always been about putting our forces together, working as a team and enjoying the group’s accomplishments as a family, collaborating to find the best ways for our clients.