What is your true meaning of Success?
I say it is subjective & here’s why I say so
Ever since childhood, we have been taught different meanings of success.
And, as far as I have observed — most of these meanings sprout out of underlying insecurities of our circumstances, family backgrounds and are simply just imbibed in us.
Let’s take a few examples of success for different people:
- for most, it is the materialistic things — luxurious lifestyles, expensive items, exorbitant pay checks, and what not.
- for some, it is the yearn to be known for good — high reputation, a million followers, a role model figure etc.
- and for a very few, it is to create a genuine impact in someone’s life (family & society), to create quantum leap for people by touching lives for good.
There could be other meanings to it as well and there’s nothing wrong with either of these meanings for someone, however many a times, these meanings are ADOPTED rather owned or discovered by us.
And I believe, it makes way more sense to own our meaning of success without having it impacted by any externalities, because that is how we enjoy the journey towards it.
I was in the same boat a couple of months ago, for me success was something like ‘being acceptable and appreciable by the society (money, expensive assets/liabilities, reputation etc.)’.
It was only after some deep work that I realized that all I was longing for, was not to achieve my meaning of success (because it was never my own meaning) but to make myself feel worthy in the society.
I was doing it for a bunch of people around me😅
Hard realization, right? — It all started with questioning.
Do I really want this? Will it make me happy? Is it lasting? Is it serving people around me in any way?
And if at all, I don’t connect to my current meaning of success, then what is it for me?
Let me share with you an anecdote, which helped me discover the my meaning of success (or at least get closer to it).
Recently, over LinkedIn a student reached out to me for some career advice, giving reference of my accountancy teacher back in high school.
Reading the name of my teacher after almost a decade, intrigued me! 😮
Not very proud about it, but I have been completely out of touch with my school teachers 😢
I went ahead to connect with him, after assisting him with his queries — I couldn’t resist and asked about ma’am.
To which he responded that ma’am sharply remembers few of her students and take our names in classes.
Recently, he asked ma’am for some career help/advice, and she directed him to me.
I was interested in learning, how she found me.
She has my name in her memory, so typed it on Google > got re-directed to my LinkedIn profile > (as she is not on LI) took a screenshot of my profile > and forwarded to the student to reach out to me.
In all certainty that I would be responsive and help him. Isn’t that lovely?!
Ma’am left a long-lasting impact on who I am today. I remember, once I was having a rough day and I lost control on my emotions.
She could have easily ignored the situation, but she sent my close friends to look-out for me. Later, I went back to apologize for losing control over my emotions.
I remember that touching moment EXACTLY — I was standing outside teachers’ room, she came out, looked at me, came closer and hugged me whispering in my ears “you are my lovely child, and you will always remain that”.
I could not control my tears.
I had 2 teachers by my side, both of them stood close and assured me :
“It’s Okay if you are having a low phase, we are certain that you will bring laurels for this school, one day!”
Oh MY GOD! — that feeling will stay with me forever. It felt like someone gave me a helping hand, to pull me out of a deep hole.
I needed, exactly that at that moment!
I have had many more beautiful moments with ma’am, where she touched my life and helped me gain confidence and faith in self.❤️
Coming back to the question, about the meaning of success!
I graduated from high school in 2014 and unfortunately lost touch with ma’am.
In these 9+ years she would have met about 500+ students but still she could recall my name and was looking up to me to support her current students.
This right here, this feeling, ahh!
- Knowing that someone can recall your name and memory after years.
- Is looking up to you for anything (even for something trivial) and is being hopeful from you.
Is TRUE success for me.
This incident clearly helped me reconnect with the idea, that for me one of the most integral definitions of success would always be — touching & impacting lives positively, being able to help people to feel hopeful in life & create good memories with them.
Each of these, so much so that — even decades later, remembrance of me either leave a smile on their face or my story inspires them to keep moving and not give-up.
I have just discovered my bedrock and I am yet to learn my other definitions of success.
However so far, I have realized that for me, success would not be something I accumulate for myself during my lifetime.
But something that I leave behind in life or after life because that would be truly long-lasting and sustainable 😃
For now, few highlights of true success for me are —
- an act which brings a smile on my loved ones’ faces
- ability to create emotional, physical, and financial reliability for my inner circle
- a sense of hopefulness generated for the society etc.
All these little things make me feel accomplished.
Because as they say,
people might forget everything about you. How much you earned, your assets, your good-looks, your words, your actions etc.
But something that stands intact without any hint of dissolvement is ‘How you made them feel’.
That sustainability and, long-term value of doing, creating, saying something to make someone feel —
hopeful, important, and lifted in life is SUCCESS for me. ❤
With Love, TS.
If you liked this story, please support me by :
a. Clapping on the story (a little ‘clap icon’ at your bottom left — right below this story ☺). It would really MOTIVATE me to keep going & keep posting :)
b. Follow me here on Medium. It would be SO ENCOURAGING to have someone out there, who is looking up to my stories/writing. It would mean so much to me :)
