What does success mean to you?

Published by CN Admin at July 5, 2022

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By Daniel Francis

There’s an exercise that I always do with new clients. It is a very simple exercise that helps them better crystalise their idea of success. Feel free as you read this article to attempt the same exercise.

Ask yourself and answer a simple question: “What does success mean to me?” Simple, right? Once you have answered, I want you to dig deeper and clarify what your answer means in more specific terms until you get a more actionable answer.

Typically, this translates to asking, “What does this answer mean in more specific terms?” six to eight more times after the initial success question.

Here’s an example of what that looks like.

Question:What does success mean to me?
Answer: Success to me means happiness and freedom.

Question: What does this answer mean in more specific terms?
Answer: It means that I don’t have to worry about anything.

Question: What does this answer mean in more specific terms?
Answer: Everything and everyone in my life is taken care of.

Question: What does this answer mean in more specific terms?
Answer: I don’t have to worry about money.

Question: What does this answer mean in more specific terms?
Answer: I make enough money to cover my expenses and to easily help those around me.

Question: What does this answer mean in more specific terms?
Answer: I need to make X amount of money in X amount of time by doing X work.

The exercise usually goes this route. I hope that you take the time to do this exercise now. It can be a transformative experience.

The reality is that most of us have not taken the time to break down what success means to us.

Success is meant to be the most ideal result in life that we want to aim to achieve. Yet we miss the target because we don’t really have a target.

Imagine for a minute that your idea of success was to be happy and free as was the first answer in the example. This is a quite common answer.

The sentiment of aiming to be happy and free sounds wonderful but there is an issue. This idea you are using as your north star for an ideal life is vague. Without determining the parameters of ‘happy’ and ‘free’ you are essentially being guided by an idea of success that changes from day to day because you have not articulated in any certain terms what they mean.

Think of it this way. Your idea of success is something of your lighthouse in foggy weather. The vaguer the description, the dimmer the lighthouse beacon, and the more difficult it is to make it ashore. However, the more specific the idea, the brighter the beacon and the increased likelihood that you are to make it ashore.

God wants the best for us but at the end of the day, it falls on us to increase our chances to get where we want to go. It starts with creating a clear path for ourselves, doing the work, and of course keeping the faith that God will do the rest.