December 20, 2005
Define Personal Success
You are the only person qualified to judge your own success. Only you know what the roadmap to your destination looks like. Pretend that you are going on a long journey with some friends. You all start out from the same location. Everyone knows that it will take several days to get to the place you want to go. Everyone knows where that place is, but the friends you are traveling with do not know how to get there. You are the only person who has the map that will help you find your destination. Only you know which landmarks along the way will help keep you on course. How do you think the other travelers feel? Do you think they have blind faith that you will reach your destination? Some of them may, but the majority probably has doubts. They may believe that you have selected a destination that is too far from home or that may require too difficult a journey. They may also feel that you don’t know how to get from point A to point B. You have the map and only you can judge whether or not you are on course.
Time and again I have seen people set standards for others that were far too low, and they ended up shortchanging the potential of the individual. Only you know how much talent, skill, and knowledge you bring to any task that you attempt. Others have no true way of assessing your potential. In addition, only you can gauge your motivation toward achievement. Because no one has access to those aspects of your personality, they can’t judge whether or not you are capable of achieving your goals.
If you allow others to define your successes, they will ultimately define your future. It is crucial that you look at your future through your own lens and that you assess your own effort toward success. It is the only way to control your destiny.
Filed under: Motivation
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View Dave Lorenzo's profile
What an inspiring post! Too often, we attempt to live the life that other people (our parents, coaches, teachers, friends, lovers, etc) want us to live. We need to dig down, discover our own truth, and point our life in that direction. I know I’d have been more successful and happier if I’d learned that lesson a lot earlier.
Comment by Joan Schramm — December 20, 2005 @ 17:03
Thanks, Joan.
Comment by Dave Lorenzo — December 20, 2005 @ 18:15
Dave - you couldn’t be more right. Success means something different to each of us, and I agree it really is a choice of define it…or have it defined for you. GREAT stuff! Thanks Dave!
Comment by Phil Gerbyshak — December 20, 2005 @ 22:56