A Definition of Success

I really liked the following taken from a speech by John Maxwell, a leader in motivational seminars.

How to be a REAL Success (John C. Maxwell)

I think success is three things. First of all, it's knowing your purpose in life. As I have studied the lives of successful people, I've noticed that they really do have an understanding of why they are here. Finding your purpose -- your reason for being here -- is huge. By the way, it's a process; it takes a while. But once they've discovered their purpose in life, it becomes an anchor. It's the thing that holds them steady, the thing that keeps them focused. There are two ways to discover your purpose. The first is discovering your passion. What you passionate about? Passion is a wonderful l thing; it's the great energizer. However, that's not always true. I have known people who are very passionate about something that was clearly not their purpose. All you have to do is watch the tryouts for American Idol. That's why the passion test is only about 85 percent accurate. However, there is another way that is 100 percent accurate... that is, find your strength. Find the thing that you do well -- your area of real ability or giftedness.

Highly successful people not only know their purpose in life, but secondly, they grow. They grow to their maximum potential. They understand that the greatest way to be successful is to find out what they do well. When you discover what you do well, be the best that you can be in that strength zone. You and I don't get better by accident. We don't get better because we live longer. We don't get better because we have more experience on the job. If you're going to grow, you're going to have to do it intentionally. You're going to have to grow on purpose. As I began to study personal growth, I found that it's not mystical. The secret to your success and my success is determined by our daily agenda. Each day we are either preparing or repairing. Every day we are either lighting our life up in such a way that we are almost guaranteeing success for tomorrow, or we're having to go back to yesteryear or last week and repair stuff that we should have never done or said back there. The secret of your success and mine is determined in our daily agenda.

People who are highly successful know their purpose in life, grow to their maximum potential, and thirdly, they seek to benefit others. Highly successful people understand that their main responsibility is seed-sowing, not harvest-reaping. They understand that if they just add value to people, in the process of life, all the reaping will come to them. Sowing is not automatic; reaping is. So therefore, they concentrate their time and effort on what they give and how they add value to others. However, most people get up every day and ask one question: "How's life going to treat me today? What’s somebody going to do for me? How’s somebody going to meet my needs?" Robert Louis Stevenson once said, "The success of my days is determined by the seeds that I sow, not by the harvest."

There are four things successful people do, regardless of their careers. The first is RELATIONSHIP. Highly successful people get along with people. They're good to people. People won't go along with you if they can't get along with you. Highly successful people understand this point, so they work hard on their relationship skills. The question that every person needs to ask is, "Am I an adder or subtractor to people's lives?" If you add value to people and sow positively into people's lives, you have to do it intentionally, because I don't think it comes naturally to any of us. People who add are relationally strong people. People who subtract are people who are relationally weak people.

The second thing highly successful people do is they EQUIP people well. They train and develop teams, and they know how to bring people together. They understand that it takes teamwork to make the dream work.

Thirdly, highly successful people have an ATTITUDE that is different from other people. Your attitude makes a difference. I'm talking about how we think about ourselves, how we think about life and how we think about other people. However, a great attitude will not replace incompetence.

The fourth quality is LEADERSHIP. Highly successful people have learned how to influence people, which is what leadership really is. Being a leader is not a title, nor is it the position. It's the ability to influence.