There are numerous definitions of what success means; it has become such a subjective topic that in some respects the meaning of success seems meaningless. Depending on your school of thought and the lens through which you view this idea, it can take many forms. There is no doubt that you can succeed on different levels and in different areas of your life BUT – how do you measure and define it?
This topic has been thoroughly studied and viewed from all different angles. I have studied my own successes to see if I could figure out the reasons I was successful in the first place. I deliberated the behaviors of other successful individuals and I looked to my mentors for answers. I searched the faces of some of the most influential individuals of our time to find the formula.
Surely there were characteristics and behaviors that all successful individuals had in common; however, most were still so different from one another in their approach and modus operandi.
After a while I realized that the one thing that had always eluded me was how to remain successful. What was it about successful people that made them remain that way?
And then it hit me…
I was barking up the wrong tree – looking at this topic all wrong. It isn’t about what they do that matters, it is the why. I didn’t realize this until it happened to me – until I had my own epiphany of complete success.
The day I experienced the epiphany to start this blog and pursue my public speaking dream was the day I became a complete success. It wasn’t at all about what I was going to do or what I was going to earn or anything else – it was all about the why. My success came from within which is where all successful individuals derive complete success – from within.
That being said, I don’t want to leave you high and dry; there are some important elements that make up this epiphany. It’s not like it just happened to hit me in the head like a rock. I had been heading down this path for a long time and didn’t know it. It only became clear to me because I was finally keenly aware of who I am and how I want to live my life.
As I pondered success more deeply and broadly, I realized that there are certain elements that are always present before during and after one has attained complete success.
The goal of this article is to help raise your awareness to these elements so that you can more easily recognize your success when it shows up. The fact is that we all have the ability to achieve complete success – the sad thing is that 99% of people will not – only because they refuse to wake up when it comes knocking. Most people will remain completely unconscious and incompetent when it comes to realizing their true gifts and talents that would ultimately help them achieve the success they ought to have. I’m sorry if that’s too much of a negative statement coming from a personal growth and development blog; however, this blog is also about truth and this is the truth as I understand it as of the writing of this article.
If it scares you to think that you may be a part of that 99% - don’t be. You’re reading this article which already puts you ahead of the pack because you are reading and learning. This means that you have a leg up so don’t break it.
I tell you that because I’ve broken my “leg up” a few times and it wasn’t fun; I let fear get the best of me – I let it win. The day I stopped letting fear win was the day I became successful and even on the days when fear won again, I knew exactly what I had to do to kick its ass and I have been kicking it ever since.
In order to truly experience the epiphany of complete success, these are the elements that must be present.
Know your true purpose
This is crucial to realizing your complete success. You must know your true purpose in life; we all have one. What this means is that you must endeavor to figure out why you are here in this life. How are you meant to impact the world? What legacy will you leave? How will you have made the world a better place for having been in it?
If this sounds too deep for you, perhaps you’re simply not ready to face the unchanging truth. The unchanging truth is that each person walks this life for a reason; a purpose only he/she can bring to the world. What has always been inside of you yearning to come out and play with the rest of the world?
It is harder to wrap your head around the concept of a true purpose than it is to actually recognize it. Once you accept the unchanging truth that you do have a purpose, you have only to think of the one thing you would do whether you earned a living from it or not; the one thing you would do just to see others happy for you having done it.
When you realize your true purpose and you embrace it, every step towards bringing that purpose to life feels effortless no matter how difficult it is. You continue to persevere simply because you know that you must and will continue to do so no matter what. That’s what realization of purpose does – it drives you to overcome every obstacle no matter how big.
The most important thing about knowing your purpose is that everything you do must reflect the true nature of that purpose; you must not deviate from its course in the pursuit of instant gratification. Your purpose in life is the most important thing because it will govern the way you behave in the other areas of your life.
What’s in it for others?
Once you’re convicted of your true purpose you now have to bring that to the world in a way that provides something the world needs. It challenges you to think deeply about what that special thing is that you have to offer the people in the world around you. You see, your success is not complete if you’re the only one enjoying it; if you are the only one deriving a benefit.
Complete success is about fulfillment in giving where others receive a great value from what you’ve given. All the other things that come along with success are simply byproducts of this universal and unchanging principle.
Think for a moment if you will…
Why is it that some people have so much money and yet no family or friends around them with whom to share it? These people often end up miserable, troubled and sometimes die way too young. When it happens, we tend to sit around and say things like “What did she have to be unhappy about? She was so rich!”
Was she really?
Sure by monetary standards, she may have been rich; however, without people with whom to share that wealth, she is just an empty vessel. Nothing is more important than nurturing our connection to others. All the money in the world can never make you happy or completely successful if you are alone; if you give no love and are shown no love.
For this reason, you must endeavor to figure out what’s so important and special about your gifts and then share them with the world. Sure, there may be many ways in which you can do this; however, in order to attain true success; complete success – this must be done.
Does it sound hard to get to this point?
Think of it this way…
How would you want to partake in your gifts if you knew someone else possessed them? What would motivate and excite you most about them? Often times, if you can answer simple questions like these, they will put you on the right track. Besides, you don’t have to get it completely right the first time – you just have to do it with the right mindset or as my friend and mentor Ann would say “do it with your heart.”
Create and distribute value
Once you’ve figured out what’s in it for others, now it’s time to find ways to create and distribute that value. Complete success requires that you consistently look for ways to send your message out to the world.
The truth is that when you’re on this path for the right reasons and your purpose is crystallized in your mind, it will unleash unimaginable creativity within you. The value that you distribute will increase a thousand fold because of it. This is what it means when YOU create and distribute value to others.
When you are in this mode, all the other byproducts ultimately fall into place. The more you do the more abundance you will receive. It will consistently show up in different forms; money, family, friends and most importantly others paying forward what you given them. Nothing screams complete success like someone else you’ve touched paying it forward and touching others. Your circle of influence will grow exponentially and you will ultimately touch more lives than you can possibly imagine.
When you create and distribute value to others, the effects are rippling because people tend to duplicate such efforts and touch others because you’ve touched them. When you do what you love; when you are true to your purpose and you find ways to create and distribute value to others through your gifts, complete success must follow. It is an embodiment of all the universal and unchanging principles like the law of cause and effect; the law of belief and the law of momentum just to name a few.
I could go on and on about universal principles BUT, that’s for another article. For now, get the point. Success is not about money or power or any other byproduct of success. It is about the gift that you give to the world; it demands that the more you give it the more abundance you will receive so that you can give more. This is the epiphany of complete success.
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