THE TRAPPINGS OF SUCCESS

The Things in Life That Make Us Feel Successful

What Do You Consider to Be the Most Important?

When you think of the things that make someone a successful person in other people’s eyes, what are the things you first think of? It seems like for many of us, the first thought that comes to mind is money. When you have an above-average to higher income or even wealth, most people consider you to be successful.

People with wealth tend to be able to buy many of the other things that financially successful people enjoy. A nice, big house. Perhaps a second vacation home. Fancy, expensive cars, boats, and sometimes even planes.

You have the ability to travel, take nice vacations, and see the world. Money generally equates to freedom in most people’s minds.

But how free are you really? Are you sacrificing time for money? Are you working sixty to eighty hours a week running a company, being a CEO, or spending more time with your clients than your family?

With the materialistic trappings of success often come obligations. A brilliant person may invent a wealth-producing product, a service everyone is clamoring for, or some other thing that initially makes them a shit-ton of cash. Yet it can trap them in a position of having to keep working ungodly hours to sustain a business model to maintain this jet-set lifestyle of success.

I think of people like Lady Gaga, LeBron James, or Oprah Winfrey and wonder how their personal lives suffer due to the enormous amount of work they have to put into their careers and businesses. Besides all of their main gigs, they have many other obligations related to business, endorsements, and charitable causes. Does this leave much time for their families and friendships?

To me, the definition of success is having the perfect balance of income, time for your loved ones, and doing what you love for a living. Not having any or all of the three can cause a person to feel unsuccessful and unfulfilled. There are other variables that are also important to factor into this equation.

I consider myself to be a successful person. My number one priority is my family and close circle of friends. I have people that love and care about me and my well-being, as much as I care for theirs. Having people who stand alongside you through life and encourage and love you is huge. This is the most important aspect of defining my own success.

The second biggest thing I feel I’m successful in is having a career I’m passionate about. I love everything about writing. I write more than I do anything else in a 24-hour day, including sleeping. I wrote a piece about this once:

I’m a successful writer for a number of reasons. First, I love the feeling I get by writing and publishing new blogs every day. Creating words that will outlive me gives me a sense of fulfillment and accomplishment.

Secondly, I appreciate and am thankful for the writing family I’ve made during the two years I’ve been writing on Medium. Your comments and encouragement are so very welcome and needed. It’s my pleasure to know you, support you, and communicate daily with you all.

Third, I have my values and my beliefs. I know that I have genuine love and support for almost everyone on the planet. Racist, bigoted, sexist, and homophobic people are the exception. You all can keep the fuck away from me and my loved ones.

I love the new people I meet constantly online and in real life. If you are a good, decent, kind-hearted accepting human being, I want to know you. I want you in my corner. I want to support your goals and dreams.

Another area I feel successful in is my health. I’ve never had any sort of illness or affliction that has negatively impacted my health on a large scale. Though I’m not in the kind of shape I’ve been in during my younger years, I’m still trying.

I get to the gym somewhat regularly. Though I don’t engage in nearly as strenuous of workouts as I might have in my 20s and 30s, I do what I can to keep my heart healthy and my muscle tone at a respectable level.

Keeping active certainly helps me feel better physically than if I completely neglected my workouts. I’d rather do a moderate lift session and a bit of cardio than nothing at all. Quick workouts are still workouts.

Part of being a successful person to me is caring about the state of the world. Our planet’s health is far more necessary than my own. I am always encouraged when I read about methods and new technology that are helping our planet to become more eco-friendly. We need it, with over 8 billion people now on Planet Earth.

Another big aspect of having a better world is fighting for truth and justice. Not to sound all Superman about this, but the world needs a hero. The world needs a LOT of heroes. Standing up for all people and their basic human rights is so necessary here in our country and all over the world.

I can only hope that through my writing, I’m helping to effect change. I love being on the right side of history. I never want to judge others negatively or fight to take away their rights, as so many seem to do these days.

I’m proud that I do not judge my own success based on money and possessions. Would it be nice to have a vacation home, a fancier vehicle than my 2007 Dodge pickup, and the ability to travel more than I do? Absolutely. Are those things something I worry and stress over? Certainly not.

My healthy, happy relationship with my Bride, kids, extended family, and friends means far more to me than that. Having raised three accepting, intelligent, kind-hearted, hilarious children to adulthood is one of the most successful things I’ve accomplished. They’re rock stars and their generation will change the world.

While my writing income isn’t nearly where I’d prefer it to be yet, the materialistic aspects of writing aren’t as important to me. Doing what I love for a living, entertaining others, and effecting positive change in the world means much more. The friendships made here are far more important to me than my paycheck.

In this regard, I consider myself a success. Even if I don’t live in a 10,000-square-foot mansion with a Bugatti, a yacht, and my own private jet. I’d rather be closer to a Shakespeare than a Kardashian. &:^)

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