Definition of Success:
Before you can achieve something, you need to know what it is that you actually want to achieve. In order to set your goals and your priorities, you need to know exactly what it is that you are going to be working for. If you are going to be working for ‘success’ then we first need to define what it is. For many ‘success’ would mean completing a specific task, in a specific amount of time. For someone else, it could mean the feeling of satisfaction, after getting done with an important assignment. The point here is this that everybody has its own definition of success and your criteria of being successful may or may not be different from another person’s criteria of being successful.
Defining success is a pretty personal deal. And to what extent you can go to, to get that success is a different thing altogether. For most people, success means to complete whatever work or task it was that you intended to do. Once that task is done, they term it as being successful. And if they are unable to complete it, they feel unsuccessful. However
The above concept of ‘success’ sounds deceptively simple. There is definitely something more to ‘success’ than meets the eye. A study shows that one 85% of the people end up completing the tasks that they intended to complete. So, the remaining lot would be considered unsuccessful? Even if you are able to complete a task, but do not feel too happy about it, would you then call it as success? Or you adopted the wrong means to go about completing a task and now are suffering from a heavy conscience, would you still consider yourself successful? These things should also be taken into account when you are trying to define success.
Measuring Success:
One of the most effective ways of finding out how successful you have been, depends on a number of things. Following are just a few ways you can measure how successful you are:
Evaluate Your Emotional State:
If you have completed a task in the given amount of time, but still you do not feel satisfied, is a sure sign which indicates that there is something still missing. You have not actually achieved what you meant to. Your success would only then be termed as something materialistic; something which ended after you completed that task.
Real success would mean that you are happy with the efforts you have made and put into completing a task, real success would mean that when you go to bed at night, you are happy that you gave it all and did not give up.
Stop and Think:
Extremely successful people are known for the fact that they work long hours. The rule is simple, the harder you work, the more successful you are destined to be. And the only place where success comes before work is some dictionary. We are a part of a dog eat dog world, where we have to face cut throat competition. You have to stay at the top of your game, even when the chips are down. All of this is only possible when you are putting in the extra energy, time andeffort. While spending long hours at the office may just seem the right thing to do to get that pending task done, but we need to strike a balance between our work life and our personal life. If you are getting too caught up in work, so much so, that your family and loved ones are being ignored, then it is probably time to re evaluate your priorities.
Work hard, but do not be so consumed with the idea of success that you start losing the people you need in life. Do not let your family become a casualty because you were too focused on building up the perfect, successful career.
Know Your Aims and Goals:
Knowing what you are striving for makes your struggle a lot easier. Being successful is an ongoing struggle and it never really ends. You need to maintain it through hard work and dedication. However, it is very important that after you achieve a particular goal, you should celebrate it. Knowing how far you have gotten in your journey, develops a sense of achievement. This sense of achievement can also do wonders for you, when you are not feeling too encouraged or motivated.
How to be Successful:
Everyone wants to be successful and avoid being a failure. Failure leads to disappointment, low self esteem and may even end up in development of inferiority complexes. However, most people do not realize that too often, a kick in the teeth can be the best thing for you! That means when you are down in the dumps or in hot waters, only then you get to know what your real strengths are.
Take inspirations from your setbacks. Your adversaries and misfortunes will help in building your character. Learn your lessons from your mistakes and apply those lessons in real life.
How to be successful depends on what field you want to be successful in. For example, if you want to be successful in studies or academics, you would need to give more time to studies than you do to other things. You need to be more focused during your lectures and your overall efforts would be more concentrated on studies. Not on games and other things.
If you want to be successful in your business or whatever profession it is that you have, then your priorities would change accordingly. You would spend more time on your job, making sure that every task is being done and managed properly. You would spend more time in your office, than at family events because you feel that it is the need of the hour.
No matter what your concern is, no matter what field you want to be successful in, there are always a few elements that are common to all. Love, Profession, Health, Life etc whatever it is that you want to attain success in, you need to keep in mind a few things:
Work Hard:
There are no shortcuts to success. In fact, many people are of the opinion that everything that is worth having, requires effort. You simply cannot be successful, if you are sitting there, waiting for things to happen. You cannot wait, you must take charge of things and make those things happen. Set goals for yourself and each day promise that you are going to do everything, that is in your hands, to get as close as possible to that goal. Remember, success comes to those who work for it.
Be Patient:
Know that your efforts may or may not yield results, instantly. Things can take time and sometimes, for the better. Learn to be patient and do not stop working hard. Do not lose hope or get discouraged. Good things come to those who wait.
Stay Motivated:
In order to be successful, you need to stay motivated. Motivation is what is going to get you through even when things are not looking so bright. For example, you want to lose weight, but you are not getting good enough results, even though you are following your diet and workout plans. You may start to wonder that maybe things are not going to be great, ever, and you give up. The thing which most people forget in their journey is that not everything is going to work out like a miracle drug. Patience and motivation go hand in hand. If you are not motivated, you will leave things in the middle. Instead of thinking about how far you have yet to go, think about how far you have gotten. Think about your little achievements for they can make a big impact on your overall thinking. Read inspirational quotes to renew your energy and spirits.
Adopt a Positive Attitude:
This is probably one of the secrets of success! A positive attitude will not only help you get over the bad times, but it will also help you in developing that mindset which is needed to be successful. Negative people do not amount to much, even if they do get lucky and end up achieving something, you are most likely to find them complaining about that, too. Nothing is every good enough for them. People with a positive attitude, on the other hand, are a different story. For them, even the smallest things count. They are thankful for all that they have and they count each and every blessing. If you want to be successful, you need to have a positive attitude, otherwise, nothing will ever satisfy you.
Be Consistent:
This factor has got to be the top most factor which will determine your success. Consistency is the name of the game. You need to continue working for your cause, in the same manner. You need to keep up your efforts if you want to achieve success. If you do not keep up the struggle, you will lose all that you achieved till that point, in that particular journey. When you make up your mind about something, when you have decided something, let it be a sure thing. And try whatever you can to not give up on your cause.
Your journey is yours and yours alone. You get to decide what success is for you, what it means to you and then work for it. Be patient and never stop believing in yourself.
