Day 9 - Redefining Success

What is your definition for success? Each of us has a definition for success for every area of our life.  We have a physical vision for success, an emotional/relational vision for success, a professional vision for success and even a spiritual vision for success. Each of us holds some personal ideal towards which we move - and this ideal drives much of our behavior, hopes, and anxieties.

Our definition for success is a powerful force in our lives. On the path to growth our definition for success provides our compass and our inspiration to fuel the journey. If you want to understand someone - figure out what their definition for success is.

If your definition for success means living with being and doing - your life is going to look different from those around you whose definition centers solely on doing. Your decisions will look different, your routines will look different and your investment of energy will look different. If you want to know why monks seem so novel and foreign to our modern sensibilities, it’s because they have a different definition for success.

If we want to live fuller than the norm, we have to think and live different from the norm. And part of this equation is an emphasis on manifesting our own internal goodness. Simply being present isn’t enough, we must also gently steward our character. Our experience of goodness is directly tied to our ability to actually be good in and to the world. We will experience this goodness when we choose to do what we know to be right even when, and especially when, others are not.

Action Step:

Who are three people you respect and want to model your life after? What aspects of their life would you like to imitate?