What is Success?

What is success for you? I used to think having more money than most people would make me feel successful. But it did the reverse. There are many things about money that impede good relationships.  I experienced moneyed people thinking their wealth meant they were special, causing those who didn’t have as much money to think of themselves as less. And in your own relationship with yourself, if you think having more money will make you feel you’re not only good enough, that you’re successful, it doesn’t.

So, since money doesn’t guarantee your success, can anything else? I thought becoming a successful artist would make me feel successful. It did for a while. I loved the adulation, the compliments, the notoriety, when I had my first one woman show for my artwork in New York. But living in the limelight never brought me happiness. After a while, having to prove yourself repeatedly to other people that you are you can produce more success, it gets to be painful.

We could make a list of all the things people think will make them feel successful, but nothing by itself ever does. So what does? 

What makes you feel successful has everything to do with what’s inside you. True success is in the journey toward manifesting  what you love doing, being, or having. It’s in the solving the problems, learning new skills, feeling our way through what’s blocking us. Success is the result of growing and becoming more.

Now I’m going to ask you a personal question. What would your life look like if you didn’t care what other people thought? If there were no “Should’s” and “Have to’s”.

I don’t know about you, but I felt freed not having to fit in or worry about how someone else was going to be affected. I felt power I’d never known I could feel.

What is genuine success for you? Whatever your answer, the first step you must take is to embrace the desire to be more. The second step on our way to success is to make a commitment. We need to make that promise because we are afraid of change, so we need to know our goal is more important than our feeling safe.

After committing, look for times you feel resistant. Resistance is the signal you’re on the right path. It’s a sign we’re close to success. The key to let go of the resistance is in choosing to take action over feeling the fear.

Success happens when we’ve come to that feeling of completion in every facet of ours lives. It exists when success encompasses all aspects of our lives.

As we delve deeper into success, we’re going to explore becoming more powerful. Thank you for reading this far. There’s so much more to come as we point out the blocks that stop most people from succeeding at success.

What is necessary to achieve

Flowers-on-my-porchWhat is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare.

Willam Henry Davis

 

I’ve been so busy working on so many tasks.  I’ve been fixing problems with my WordPress site, having to keep up with the course I’m taking, the Intentional Blog Course, and I’ve begun learning how to use Adobe Photoshop Elements on my computer.  And those are just a few of all the projects I’m working on.

What I love doing is this–writing.  This and painting fill my heart with joy, and I wish I did not have to undertake the work it takes to achieve some degree of success.  Trying to bolster my confidence, I came across this quote:

Any great achievement is preceded by many difficulties and many lessons; great achievements are not possible without them.

Brian Tracy

I’d also add what I’ve realized since I began this journey into marketing my writing and art. To my surprise, after I successfully conquer another challenge, I am more to myself than I thought of myself before.  With that much more confidence, I notice traits like perseverance, tenacity, and determination dominating my thoughts.

I can do this!, has become my mantra.

Overcoming difficulties, I feel prouder of myself, which makes it even easier to take the next step.  What also helps me stay the course is dreaming about the outcome.  Working toward something grandiose is easier than getting through a job for the paycheck.  A fulfilled life is more satisfying and enduring than having a lot of money with no passion.

Art is a form of supremely delicate awareness… meaning at-oneness, the state of being at one with the object.

D. H. Lawrence

When I sit down for another day of building another necessary skill to reach another goal, I remember that I chose to do this for the pleasure I will have in the completion of it.  That makes it easier to accept.  I find myself no longer allowing myself to whine and groan over what I’m needing to do.  I remain aware of the fact that this skill I’m working on is going to make my work easier in the long run.  Just like my painting and writing, when I become one with what I’m doing, the flow begins and I feel happy again.

As skills are just as important to writing and painting as talent and creativity, skills are necessary for moving forward in life.