What Is Success?

Good morning, Live Better than a Billionaire-a-Holics!

Are you feeling motivated this morning?
I certainly hope so. I know that I am!

Many people blindly pursue "success" without thinking too much about the implications of the goal they've set out for themselves. If they have chosen a good goal, that's great. But if not, that lack of consideration may haunt them for decades to come.

Here are a few examples to consider:

Many of my friends and classmates seemed to have chosen their careers because they were "impressive" to someone else rather than because the work was greatly enjoyable to them. Mom and Dad would be proud of you regardless of what you do . . . as long as it's honest work.

Many of my students set very difficult goals. They may want to publish the definitive work in a crowded field like leadership, start a major consulting firm, and be hugely popular. Any one of those tasks would be enough for more than one lifetime. But to make matters more difficult, these people often set up an impossible timetable . . . everything may have to be done in 18 months. I'm all for high goals, but trying to do so much is like me trying to set the world record for marathons rapidly.

I also see organizations stumble because of goals. One company I know quite well is so focused on becoming the industry leader that the company's leaders never think very hard about the fact that it may not be worth anything to lead in that industry which seems to be facing obsolescence.

How can you avoid such pitfalls in chasing what seems to be success rather than success itself?

Here are some suggestions:

1. Imagine that you met your goal but that the accomplishment ended up not being very economically or socially valuable. Would you still be pleased to have done this? In other words, does the goal itself provide intrinsic joy that means you'd feel rewarded even if no one else appreciated what you had done?

2. Imagine that you had to choose between having a great family life and your goal. Which should get priority? If you say your family life, perhaps your other goal isn't your real idea of success. What would it be worth to you to raise youngsters who all were terrific people, had wonderful marriages, and raised even more terrific grandchildren . . . and they all chose to live near-by because they were so fond of you?

3. Are you interested in the success because it impresses you . . . or because it impresses others? In either case, you may be making a poor choice. The most rewarding successes are usually those that give us a sense of joy every moment we pursue them . . . whether or not anyone is impressed.

4. Have you checked out what others have chosen to see as success to see how you would feel about a similar journey? If you only pick choices that show up on the evening news, you are probably leaving out some great choices that you would like better.

# # #

Please let me know what else you would like to
learn, and I'll do my best to help in future blog
entries.

Thanks so much for your support of this blog.
I'm delighted that so many tens of thousands
of people have made this blog part of their
regular reading habit!

If you like this blog, please let others
know who might also enjoy it. E-mailing
your favorite post to them is a great idea.

Thank you to my many friends, students,
clients and blog readers who are spreading the
good word about this blog.

If you are visiting today because someone
invited you, I'm delighted to meet you! Let's
stay in touch.

Remember to also visit

Live Spiritually Better than a Billionaire at http://livespirituallybetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Mansions Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoymansionsbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Football Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoyfootballbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/ and

Be a World Hero Better than a Billionaire at http://beaworldherobetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/.

I offer individual on-line tutorials and
in-person seminars on creating 2,000
percent solutions (20 times the results with
the same effort), developing more profitable
business models and designing strategies that
work regardless of the business environment.
For information, contact me at
ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com.

I am available to you as a speaker on these
subjects. You can find my background at http://livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars.blogspot.com/2005_08_30_livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars_archive.html/.

May God bless you.

Donald W. Mitchell
Chairman, Mitchell and Company

Copyright 2007 Donald W. Mitchell