In order for success to be true success, it must be a personal thing. While failure can be easily defined, (an inability to reach one’s goals), success cannot be so simply defined. There can be as many definitions for success as there are human beings, for we are each created uniquely as an individual masterpiece of God’s. So, if you have not clearly defined success for your own life, maybe because you’ve simply been too busy, or just haven’t really given it any thought until now. Here are some guidelines you can adopt that will help you in this journey of branding your personal success.
1. Don’t Conform
The world around you wants you to conform to their idea of success – it will never work. You have been given gifts, personality, desires, hopes and dreams that you must guard and pursue. Don’t give into the pressure to conform to anyone’s idea of success. It’s a personal thing! This is your story, your life that you are living. No one can argue, though many will try, with your definition of success – it’s your story.
2. Clarify The Why
You must give clarity as to the “why” behind what makes your definition of personal success yours. This is not only true for you to move forward and make progress but especially as others try to persuade you off of your definition of personal success. Otherwise, you will easily be swayed by one thing or another, never truly making progress in this life at all.
3. Count The Cost
Many are sadly mistaken to think that success is free. No matter how you brand your personal success, make no mistake, it is not free. In fact, you will never truly enjoy any aspect of success that you have not earned. The joy of success comes with the intentional effort and price that we pay as we take the journey.
4. Enjoy With Contentment
If you cannot enjoy the journey if you cannot live with a sense of contentment because of your success brand, can it even be considered success? Joy, fulfillment, and satisfaction are words that should describe your feelings about this brand you are choosing to live. Consider for a moment a life that is lived in any of the opposites of those 3 words.
5. Consider Your Creator
In fact, this is truly the beginning of branding your success. To be in tune with the artist of your life, the one who is the author of all life, is imperative for true success. And yes, it’s personal, for the one who created you is a personal God. Tune in with Him and His plans for your life and you will discover the personal brand of success that is perfect for you.
Remember, you are the one who has to live with whether or not you consider yourself a success. It’s not a matter of what others think or what the world thinks. Success is a personal thing between you and God – the one who created you as a masterpiece.
Question:
Of the 5 guidelines above which one do you need to focus on today to define or refine your personal brand of success?
(Want to develop this concept more in your life? Check out Life Palette the book. “God made a masterpiece…and it’s you!”)