Building A Success

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 Success on Your Own Terms 

“Your true success in life begins only when you make the 

commitment to become excellent at what you do.” —Brian Tracy 

“Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become 

the best that you are capable of becoming.” —John Wooden 

“The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you 

haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.” – Steve Jobs 

Success, like happiness, is an individual pursuit. For years, we 

have been taught that success is all about making a lot of money. 

That is also what we have inadvertently taught our children and in 

turn, they too will pass on this folly to their children. You might 

never have heard your parents speak about success but isn’t it 

true that they often encouraged you to become a Lawyer or 

Doctor, long before you were old enough to know what you are 

good at? 

Why do you think this is the case? The prominence associated 

with these jobs may only be part of the reasons we subtly push 

our children in that direction. But for the most part, it is the money 

that they find attractive. Even if they or their children are 

accomplished within their respective areas of expertise but are 

struggling financially, they find it hard to regard this as success. 

The result of this kind of narrow-minded thinking is a society of 

people who are unhappy, depressed or underachieving because 

they are stuck in a career they hate or miserable because they 

can never live up to the unrealistic expectations set for and are 

being forcefully imposed upon them. Just think about all the 

wealthy celebrities you know that have committed suicide or are 

fighting hard to recover from a drug addiction. 

While being stable or even well off financially is often the result of 

much diligence and hard work, it is not the only true measure of 

success. There is no real satisfaction from being rich if you do not 

truly enjoy what you do. If you are struggling to make ends meet 

however, it is only natural to want a better life for yourself and 

your children. I would never encourage you to stop pushing 

yourself to earn enough to care for the needs of your family. But 

when your happiness and even the affection you have for your 

children are hinged solely on wealth or material possessions, I have 

to draw the line. 

That being said, what really makes a person successful? Here is 

what some of the greatest minds of this century have to say on 

the matter. 

“Success is a personal standard, reaching for the highest that is 

in us, becoming all that we can be.”– Zig Ziglar 

“However difficult life may seem, there is always something you 

can do and succeed at.” - Stephen Hawking 

“The starting point of all achievement is desire.” - Napoleon Hill 

As you can see, each one has their own opinions about the 

boundaries within which we define success. That is because 

success means totally different things to different people. In fact, 

even those with great wealth may not see themselves as 

successful. There is, however, one common theme in these 

sayings. Success is no accident. Success achieved as a result of 

working hard at whatever you do. 

It is impossible to become successful by just doing enough to get 

by. Anyone can be average. If your aim is to be successful, you 

must have such a burning desire to be first, to do more or even to 

do better, that it pains you to stop working towards these goals. Your 

aspirations should greet you every morning and daintily waltz 

about in your dreams every night. And no matter what obstacle 

presents itself, you will always keep telling yourself that you can’t 

stop and you won’t stop. 

That kind of burning desire is what I call motivation. Motivation is 

the force that compels us to strive for success, helps us to unlock 

the full potential of our minds and keeps us continually focused on 

and committed to attaining our goals. Motivation is thus the 

universal key to success. It is impossible to have this kind of drive 

if you do not truly love what you do and if you are not confident 

enough to think you are able to do it well. That is why it is so 

crucial for you to define success on your own terms. Which 

achievement do you think are worth pursuing? Which 

accomplishment do you yearn to share with your children and 

grandchildren? That is the aspiration that will make you a success 

and you should never stop trying to make these dreams a reality. 

Realism is a very important aspect of being motivated to succeed.

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