How Do You Measure Success?
Let me respond to an article I just read indicating the following steps to success:
- Success comes from having the right mindset;
- The right mindset causes the correct thinking process;
- The correct thinking process causes the right words used when talking to people;
- The right words used creates success;
- Success equals at least a six-figure income.
Of course, all the above statements are true. However, I object to a mindset that’s based on success equalling at least a six-figure income. Real success does not always equal six-figures. Success depends totally on set goals being achieved before the opportunity disappears.
The writer of an article I mentioned earlier notes that she and a woman of retirement age have been talking about her friend’s business, that she is excited about how well it’s doing, and that she doesn’t have time to retire now.
One of the woman mentioned during their conversation that, if she has “X” number of people, she will have a six-figure income. The writer observed that the word “IF” is the wrong word to use for achieving success. The correct word to use should be “WHEN” she has “X” number of people she will have a six-figure income.
It bothers me that people think success equals a specific amount of income or specific numbers. Often people, particularly in Network Marketing or a home-based business, believe that becoming financially rich is how we measure success. I disagree with that concept.
- What if you consider success as doing something you love and that satisfies the measure of your creation?
- What if, at the same time, you are fulfilling your potential, blessing others, and making their lives better?
- Isn’t success better measured in these types of pursuits, even if the income does not always equal some sort of financial substance?
Money and potential income should NEVER be the measure of success or the most important motivation for succeeding in business. This type of thinking does not serve a personal well. Let me tell you why.
I really believe that the problem with people in business today is that they always want to make at least a six-figure income. They want to make lots and lots of money, and they dream of all the things they can have or do that they can’t have or do now.
It’s this attitude that messes with people’s thinking and makes them dissatisfied with the life they’re living now. In almost every situation, there is nothing wrong with life the way it is when we have the right mindset. The truth is that wanting more than we have is not necessarily a good thing on which to place our focus. In most cases, being dissatisfied with our lives often means that we have failed to be grateful for our blessings.
The way I see it, wanting to be rich is like putting the cart before the horse. We need the horse in front so it can pull the cart forward. Unfortunately, people become confused sometimes and put the cart before the horse because they’ve been influenced by incorrect principles.
- For example: if big money is the motivation, then what happens when the money doesn’t come fast enough or is not as much as they expect or need?
- If the money isn’t enough to make the cart move, then nothing happens because the horse can’t pull the cart from behind.
- When something other than big money forces the cart to move, with or without the money they expect or need, then the cart moves forward. The affects of your products, your service, your plan, your efforts will be the force that pulls the cart forward.
- It IS YOU, your personality, your commitment, your excitement, your attitude, and your concern for the people you serve that makes people want to do business with you. The cost of the product is secondary.
- When you satisfy a person’s wants and needs or make them feel better, you will receive the income you want. However, what I just said is only true as long as your focus is N O T on the money you can make off them and what you can get from them. You can’t fool them, they know where your focus is and will respond to you accordingly.
Our focus should be on doing something that we love, doing it makes us feel good, doing it gives others what they need or want, and doing it gives us a reason to get up in the morning. We love doing it because it uses our gifts and talents to bless the lives of others in ways no one else can, and that is a rewarding feeling!
The reward for living this way is making people around us feel good while we’re giving them what they need. Making a good income comes secondary because we know we are doing what we are born to do. That means money SHOULD NEVER BE THE MAIN MOTIVATION behind our efforts.
Putting the cart before the horse makes us “I” oriented because the focus is on ourselves and what we want instead of doing the right things for others–without others, there would be no money.
Focusing on dreams that are based on the income we will make from others WILL NOT sustain us very long in real life. Whatever financial success we attain will be shallow because it is without the depth we need to feel secure.
SUCCESS
- What you do should include use of your God-given talents that bless others lives, as described in the parable of the Talents.
- God expects you to use what He gives you in a way that multiplies through others. This is what constitutes success.
FAILURE
- The result of burying your abilities
- The result of wasting your talents
- The result of being afraid of failing or of not bringing in enough wealth to satisfy your appetite
- The result of using your abilities improperly
- For personal gain
- For evil purposes
SELF-WORTH
You gain self-worth when you see the value you have added to someone’s life. Also, you will enjoy your life much more when YOU LIVE IT with meaning and purpose. However, you will never know these benefits when you become addicted to the ways of the world and to financial success in terms the world uses to measure it.
WHAT DOES SUCCESS MEAN TO YOU?
Is success measured in terms of income or is it measured by accomplishing what your goals plan to do?
For example, I wrote a book on what I learned after 9/11/2001
- About Peace, Joy, Happiness, and Chaos
- About how to Respond to Stress More Appropriately
- About Excessive Thinking
- About Gratitude for Blessings
- About Making My Life Mean Something.
- I felt like the Lord put a spotlight on situations and then expected me to write about what I learned. In this way, I can help people learn the same lessons that I did and live a more peaceful life.
HOW AM I SUCCESSFUL?
Am I successful because I completed the book and published it?
Am I successful because blessed the lives of others, who changed their lives because of what they learned in the books I wrote?
Am I successful because I reached my goals for writing the book and getting it published?
Am I successful financially or a failure because I did not make a six-figured income from sales of my books?
It depends on what standards you use to judge my success. I only made about $100 profits in book sales, so financially am I a failure?
In contrast, listen to what people said about how my book helped people.
- Carol said my book and conversations online with her helped her and her daughter mend their broken relationship.
- A section in my book that discussed healthy relationships helped Joni put things into perspective and avoid an extra-martial affair.
- Ann, a nurse at the Doctor’s office said, “You don’t understand. I really need your book”. She said it helped her get passed something she has never been able to do until after she read my book.
- Doyle said, “You have an amazing ability to mirror life in general. I have learned more from the first ten pages of the book than I have from all the other self-help books I’ve read.”
- Carol also said, “You understand me better than anyone has in all the years I’ve been in counseling. I believe God sent me to you.”
- Helen said, “It’s a lot like reading the scriptures. You have to read over a few times to get all the important things you need to know.”
So tell me if these stories are the way to measure my success or should it be measured by missing a six-figure income?
Indeed, I am very successful because my goal was to write it, get it published, and help people. I felt my job was to write the lessons I was taught and God’s job was to get the book in the hands of those who need it. As far as I am concerned, I think I have met my burden but there is more that needs to be written.
All of my blogs also shows my need to continue writing and help people by sharing what I know. Maybe a six-figure income in still on the horizon but that doesn’t matter to me. I am just grateful that my husband has been so supportive of this work and the expense of it. He has been a sweetheart.
