Have you heard the saying success breeds success? Do you feel successful? Would you like to be more successful?
Success is one of the most elusive mirages of the modern era. There are 1000s of books and articles espousing how to get more of it - touted like the ancient elixir of life, it is meant to hold the promise of eternal happiness. YouTube and other social media adverts tout the next greatest, quickest, easiest and surest way to get to this amazing place.
Success is meant to give meaning to life to the point where one could be swayed to believe it is the very reason for living. There is, obviously, more to life, although looking at the rapid growth of the success/self-help industry it is easy to see the appetite people have to find success. (Quick disclaimer here - from where I am sitting in my lounge I am surrounded by more than 350 self-help and improvement books with about as many in my office.)
What exactly is success? My favourite definition comes from an article by Earl Nightingale. "The best definition of success I've ever found goes like this, 'success is the progressive realisation of a worthy goal'. Or in some cases the pursuit of a worthy ideal.
"It's a beautiful definition of success. It means that anyone who's on course toward the fulfillment of a goal is successful."