How Do you Define Success? Your Definition will Shape Your Achievement
- Tea Deak
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
Recently, I read another book about art, and one chapter focused on defining success. This chapter was eye-opening and altered my approach to evaluating my life and ministry. If you've been wondering about your success at this point in your life and need a boost of courage, today's blog post is for you.
The author of the book discussed how, during his early adulthood, he considered success to be synonymous with his accomplishments as a young entrepreneur. He shared that many years ago, he started a multimillion-dollar company but ended up feeling unhappy because he was accountable to his board of directors and investors to whom he owed money. Over time, he recognized that his perception of success had changed. Despite being considered successful by others, he felt miserable, prompting him to transform his life by leaving his previous multimillion-dollar position. He then established his own business with his own capital and started a family. He now believes that having a family defines success for him and brings him fulfillment.
In that chapter, he asked several questions, and I found the following ones to be helpful:
If you had 60 healthy days left, what would you do with those remaining days?
What do you worry about most?
What needs to change?
What will you regret not getting done?
I read the questions, thought about them thoroughly, and I was shocked. I have been questioning and evaluating many things in my life for some time now. When I answered the questions the author asked, my eyes were opened. I realized one thing: I am precisely in life where I want to be. In my continuous introspective journey, I overlooked the "bigger picture." The developed introspective mindset is keeping me exactly where I want to be, and I now regard it as a success.
My mum and most well-meaning friends would be surprised I call it a success because I’m in my mid-forties, single, in missions without savings or owning a house. Like my mum, most people would consider my lifestyle unreasonable, unreliable, and unsuccessful.
Even though I'm uncertain about my future, I recognized while responding to the previous questions that I am precisely where I hoped to be 20 years ago, and my hope hasn't changed throughout my 16 years in full-time ministry in Bosnia. If I were to die in the next 60 days, there are only a few things I would like to do before then, and it wouldn't be a major issue if I didn't have the time to do them. I would continue living my daily life just as I am now. Nothing would change.
I do not have savings, I do not own a house, I do not have reliable sources of income, I am not married and do not have children, I am not pastoring a church… I do worry about my future, and yet, I made a decision to walk in faith one step at a time, whether the next 60 days or 60 years; and that makes me... content, courageous and successful. I am not where my parents wanted me to be, where friends would like to see me, or where the world expects me to be. However, I am exactly where I want to be, doing what I enjoy doing and that makes me successful. How is that a success?
For me, the definition of success is being in the center of God’s will for my life, and I firmly believe that at this point in my life, this is exactly where I am, to the best of my abilities.
I live and share my faith in Christ from the core of who the Heavenly Father created me to be, which makes me courageous and successful. This is how I define success, and it takes faith and courage to be on my life journey, no matter what other people think of me or my life choices.
How about you? What have you discovered by answering the questions from today’s blog post? How do you define success? Do you live a successful and courageous lifestyle?
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