Everyone has his or her own definition.

Over the years, I have read numerous books and heard hundreds of speakers who all claim to have the secrets of success.

To put it more specifically:

• what success is

• what success can be

• how to find success

• how to maintain success

• how to enjoy your success

• how to feel successful when you aren't

• how to share your success

I would like to focus on what success isn't - not what it is and what gets in our way as we search after it.

Please keep in mind that everyone defines success differently. Each of us puts our own personal twist on what we feel represents success in our lives or careers. To one person, success is money; to another, it is good health. To many, it is a pleasant lifestyle, while to others, just getting through another day is considered a success.

During my lifetime, I have been at the bottom of the barrel and I have been to the mountaintop and viewed the world from a vantage point that very few people ever do. I have known the sting of failure and the thrill of achievement. But no matter what my outer circumstances were, the one concept that helped me maintain a sense of inner peace, life balance and calm was my personal definition of success. This definition became the watchword for my life during whatever was going on in my world, whether it was positive or negative.

Success to me isn't:

• having more money than you ever can spend

• career accolades or fame

• a position of influence or power

• a promotion to a position in a career or organization that you hate

• the freedom to do nothing

• more education than you ever will use

• a new car every year

• a bigger house because you can afford it

• more club memberships than you have time for

None of us has the right to judge others by our standards or definition of success. During the past 35 years, I have been in front over more than 250,000 people in 20 countries as a professional speaker, and I can tell you that in each of those audiences, there were people who were more and less successful than I am. Ah, but according to what or whose standards? You see, as soon as I make the previous statement, I am assuming that your definition of success is the same as mine. Success to me means living the way want to live your life without infringing on the rights of others and the ability to support that lifestyle based on your own talent, time, energy and ability. It doesn't mean that if you inherit a million bucks and live the life of leisure you are successful. That just makes you lucky (maybe, maybe not).

What is success to you these days? Has your definition changed at all during the past few months? Years? After you hit 35? Fifty?

Getting in touch with what success isn't for you can be an excellent way to help you define what success is to you.
ND