Where Are You And How Do You Define Success In Life?
Beautiful cloudscape near the old Grytviken whaling station on South Georgia Island.
We spend so much time and effort chasing success without having a clear idea of what it means to be successful. My own journey has taken me to a place where achieving a sustainable balance between financial needs, modest and attainable goals and a happy and healthy life is what I’m now moving towards as I manifest success in my own life.
I definitely think that happiness is important, though somewhat over rated, and that it’s much more important than financial success. But it's tough to be happy when you can't feed yourself and you're stressed about paying the rent or putting fuel into your car.
An investment property or loads of shares isn’t, to my mind, a very accurate measure of success. When property and share prices are moving upwards, and your investment properties are blessed with good tenants, you’ll probably feel quite secure about your own circumstances, at least for the foreseeable future.
Let's assume you’re able to pay the bills, feed the family, purchase new camera and computer gear and travel every year or so. That's a pretty good measure of financial security, that many would equate to success.
So what's missing? Happiness isn't all its cracked up to be. It's illusive and, of course, we can neither know nor appreciate happiness without also experiencing the alternative. And the same is also true for love, health and friendship.
Money Or Happiness: What Matters Most to You?
Over recent years I've very much come to the belief that what's important is to live a purpose-driven, meaning-rich and creative life.
To that end we need to do all we can to simplify and de-clutter our lives so that we can focus on purpose and meaning in all that we do.
I’ve expanded on this idea in a post I wrote titled Follow Your Bliss: How to Be Happy by Living a Creative Life which I recommend you read.
Building A Successful Life Has To Start Somewhere
Some folks are brought up to be very disciplined and organised people, with a good understanding of the value of money and how to go about acquiring it.
That was not my reality, though my parents where truely wonderful people who cared deeply for their five children and worked tirelessly for the benefit of others.
My dear old mum was quite the hoarder, as I discovered in her later years. No doubt this came about, at least in part, due to her being born at the end of the Great Depression and reaching adulthood during the Second World War.
I wouldn’t say I was a hoarder but, over the years, I managed to accumulate so much stuff that the thought of moving house seemed beyond me.
Not wanting to be trapped by my belongs, I determined to remedy the situation and I’ve been sorting and throwing out all manner of stuff, on and off, for many years. It’s been a huge undertaking, but well worth the effort and a task I highly recommend.
I’m now well situated, living quite comfortably and able to move onto new opportunities without too much trouble.
If the scope of this task seems beyond you, at your current stage of life, I can say it all starts with a decision and a few simply actions, undertaken on a regular basis.
You could attack this problem draw by draw and, before you know it, room by room. Just remember, the only way to eat an elephant is by doing so, one bite at a time.
Minimalism Is At The Heart Of A Success Oriented Mindset
It wasn’t all that long ago that I determined to reduce the amount of stuff (i.e., clothes, books, CD’s DVD’s, kitchenware, etc) I own down to around 20% of what it was at that time.
It’s actually difficult to exactly measure the absolute outcome of this kind of goal. But I’m quite sure I came close to my target.
I remember when I first moved from my hometown down to the big city to formerly study photography. As I’d be living with my parents I didn’t have all that much stuff of my own at the time.
Living the life of a student, usually in shared accommodation, I moved another 9 times over the following 2 years. Without a bed, furniture or white goods I was able to do so in a small station wagon. Those were the days.
Once I’d settled into a place I liked I no longer felt the need to move on. But I was now living on my own and was encouraged to purchase all the things you’d expect to have in the developed world. It wasn’t long before I’d filled the place with furniture, white goods, a bed and computers.
What space remained was quickly filled up with book shelves piled high with books on photography, travel, (comparative) religion and spirituality.
Over the years my wardrobes became packed with many large boxes containing color and black-and-white prints that I’d produced in college darkrooms and, later, during my time at Kodak.
I still have around 30 binders full of 35 mm and 120 medium format negatives and slides that I’m planning to digitise over the next few years. But, to get to even that stage, I first had to sort through, pack up and throw out many large garbage bags full of negatives, slides, prints and enlargements. It was a huge job.
I’m now at the stage that, when I get rid of things, I can see the benefit of creating empty space and the ability to better organize and find things when I need them.
What’s more, I’ve undertaken a similar journey sorting out thousands of files on my computer and external hard drives. I’m not there yet, but I’m winning the war.
It’s also a good feeling to be finding a good home for things like DVD’s and books, many of them quality photography coffee table books. Most of the clothes and furniture I’ve gotten rid of have gone to charity, where I hope they’ll prove useful.
Ideally I want less and, where possible, better things. And in this regard I have decided to choose quality over quantity. But, when quality can’t be afforded, less or even nothing is likely to be the best option.
When it comes to clothes, I don’t buy anything unless I make sure I donate or throw out at least two items of clothing for each one I purchase.
Less really is more.
Avoiding The Victim Mentality By Manifesting A Positive World View
Mindset and affirmative action are the keys to success, whether that be in our personal or business lives. But what’s the point of having money if you’re not also happy. That would suggest that a lack of money was not the root cause of your unhappy state.
Stuff happens, some of it unfair and some of it unwanted. We can’t always control what happens to us, but we can control how we perceive that which has happened to us. And I believe that’s a critical distinction worth making.
Nelson Mandela taught us that, ultimately, it is a victim that determines what it is to be a victim. It is what it is, but what it actually means to be a victim is for the individual to determine.
Said more simply, we may not be able to determine what happens to us, but we can determine how we feel about what happens to us. And of course, the worse the situation, the worse we’re likely to feel about it today. But it’s how we feel tomorrow and in the days, months and years that follow that matters most.
There are reasons why some folks appear to become bitter and less happy as they age. A lot of it has to do with what you make of the things that happen to you in life, each and every day.
Relationships, job choices and health and fitness are all within our ability to positively influence.
We all create our own reality, in each and every moment, and by manifesting a positive world view we can ensure a happy life, now and into the future.
