What Success Looks Like

I think our society has a distorted view of what success means. We live in a capitalist world where we sold to at every opportunity. Buy more, spend more, make more money, bigger, better, faster, now.

I wrote a piece recently saying I want to be with someone who has a career. Someone that’s successful. But I’m not talking about someone that makes loads of money. I’m talking about personal success. Having and reaching your own goals. Being content. Loving what you do. It means different things to different people. You might be a multimillionaire but be sad and lonely. Life isn’t just about making money.

So how can you be more successful in your life? Have achievable goals, work towards them, hit them. From being more fit to eating healthier. A better work-life balance. Spending more quality time with your loved ones. Having awesome experiences. Being a good person. Giving back. These are the things that we all should be striving for. Making a million before your 30th birthday might be the goal of some techy guy in silicon valley but would it make him happy? Would he feel fulfilled? My experience of entrepreneurs and high-achievers is that they’re always striving for more. It’s never enough and when they hit one goal they reach for the next without blinking.

I always feel a bit sad when I hear about people wanting to climb Mount Everest. Not only has it become a tourist destination with people who don’t have any experience of climbing paying thousands to be taken up a mountain that they have no business being on, but it’s incredibly dangerous… which means it’s incredibly selfish. You’re going to risk dying on a mountain and leaving your family alone, just because you think climbing the highest mountain in the world is a sign of success? Grow up. Raise £1000’s and climb mount Snowdon. I’d have more respect for you.

Success for me is having a good career, doing something that you love that makes you enough money to do the things that you want to do outside of work. Success to me is raising my children to be happy and to be good people with values. Success is doing awesome things that make me happy, from kayaking in the Lake District to having the time in my day to do some yoga. Success is about being a good person and giving back. Success isn’t just about the big things. The small things are just as important.

Choose what success looks like to you. Don’t worry about what everyone else is doing. Remember that you can wake up one day and do something completely different if you want to. You can be whoever you want to be. You can set your own goals and lead your own life. Success isn’t about money in the bank or a fancy car on your drive, It’s being content and happy in every aspect of your life! What’s stopping you? Go and get it!