Let’s look what (much) younger Lorraine thought as Formula for success
As a little girl, I always looked up to my elders: parents, uncles, family friends, parents of classmates, etc. To that little girl, all those people had found their formula to success.
Some were in law enforcement, others were business owners, some others were engineers, airline captains, etc.
Most of the time, the seven-year-old child that I was didn’t understand what those jobs consisted of. But as I grew up in one of the poorest countries in the world, I also was witnessing how much other people were struggling to make ends meet.
Because I didn’t witness the struggles of the adults of my entourage, I assumed they were successful. I didn’t know why they were successful, nor what made them successful. I just assumed they had well-executed the formula for success.
Fast forward to 30-year-old me…
Over two decades later, in light of my experience, my achievements, my failures, and my path, I can’t help but to ask myself “where the people of your entourage TRULY successful?”
In other words, I am comparing my definition of success back then to my definition of success today. The difference is shocking (to me at least)!
When I was younger, I thought “being successful” was synonym of “not struggling to make ends meet” – especially in the context of making a living in one of the poorest countries of the world – regardless of if one enjoyed doing what made them “successful”.
Nowadays, my view and definition of success has slightly changed…
Which brings us to …
Defining success…
The only person that can answer the question above is YOU! Indeed, every person is different, therefore each person thinks differently, operate differently, have different visions, goals, etc.
Give yourself a definition of success by determining what really matters to you in life. Once you have done that, plan, and work to achieve it.
Once you understand that success is personal, you’ll realize that it is not easy to define “success” in a way that suits everybody. Defining success goes far beyond the common definitions provided by dictionaries and media – these definitions are mostly wealth related.
My definition of success
As I previously stated, my definition of success is certainly not the same as yours as we are two different people.
To me success is related to:
- what is important to me,
- the amount of people whose lives have change for better because of my achievement of success
In essence, success is to live a happy life and to make this world a better place for everyone.
Going back to my childhood, although those adults were successful per MY definition, they were not necessarily successful per their definition and vision of success.
What about you? What is your definition of success? Do you have a your own formula for success? If so, I would love to read your thoughts in the comments section.
In a further post, I will be going in more details when it comes to achieving a formula for success.