What is this thing called success, and how do you attain it?

What does success look like to you?

When asked this question, many of us might point to someone else and say that he or she is successful; however, we may be judging success by observing only one dimension of this person's life. In selecting interview candidates for my books on success, my first criterion was that the interviewees needed to be successful in their own minds.

Most of the people I interviewed for my books are businesspersons. Although they all have attained success in their careers, they agree that a successful career is not the only component of a successful life. They are confident that they would be successful in any career they might have chosen and are happy with the person they are and what they're doing.

Defining Success

How do you personally define success?

When I have asked this question of those I have interviewed, I have received different answers from each of them. Following are some of the responses:

• Success is a feeling of accomplishment and fulfillment.
• Success is being able to look at the person in the mirror every morning and feel good that you are achieving what you set out to achieve and done so in an honorable way.
• Success is positive contribution to self, society, and the environment.
• Success is a feeling of continually moving forward but the ability to be happy standing still.
• Success is feeling happy each day.
• Success is the achievement of goals that are important to me.
• Success is a balance in personal and professional life.
• Success is living comfortably with who you are and what you have.
• Success is not only having a fulfilling career where I know I am making a difference, but it's also having time to pursue outside interests.
• Success is having peace of mind, free from unnecessary concern over the future and being able to dwell in the now moment.
• Success is when both my work and my personal life are fulfilling.
• Success is being known as a person with values and integrity.
• Success is a mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual balance in one's life.
• Business success is achieving a position in a profession the individual enjoys.
• Success is maintaining personally acceptable levels of progress toward identifiable personal goals.
• If I can positively touch one person, plant a seed, or do a good act, each day, then that day is successful.
• Success is the quiet peace of knowing I did my absolute best.
• Success is enjoying each day.
• Success is achieving one's full potential.

Becoming Successful

I truly believe that each of us has the potential to achieve greatness. To do this, you first need to believe in yourself.

When I was fourteen years old, my goal was to be a computer programmer, even though this was not a common field for women at that time. I believed that I could do this. Although I took some detours along the way, I became a computer programmer. Later, after I had designed computer systems for marketing and sales, I decided that I wanted to combine my computer experience with marketing to enhance the effectiveness of marketing and sales. This led to the management of functions that did not exist before I became involved in them, including an international marketing management position with offices in Paris and Brussels. All along, I knew that I could do it. And I did!

Once you have defined what success looks like for you, the next step is to visualize that success. Remember to visualize the result of this success as if it has already happened.

Be aware of your priorities in life, and set your goals and act according to these priorities. Be sure that your priorities are aligned with your values and your definition of success. The more you act according to your priorities, the more likely it will be that you will enjoy success.

Take time to focus on those things that are most important to you. You may need to practice focusing exercises in order to increase your ability to focus.

Evaluate your attitude each day, and stay away from the three C's - complaining, criticizing, and condemning. The more positive your attitude, the more you will attract that which is positive into your life.

Personal integrity is tantamount to success. Before making a commitment, be sure that you will keep it. Let your word be your bond.

Create balance in your life. Take time to be spontaneous and to have fun. We are meant to enjoy life.

Take advantage of every opportunity to learn. Before going to bed each night, think about the things that you have learned that day and the ways you will apply these things in creating your ideal life and in enriching the lives of others.

More information on each of the above success principles is contained in my previous blog posts.

So how do you define success? And how do you assure you are successful according to your definition?

Making Time to Learn

In watching each of my grandchildren, I am often amazed how much they learn in a short amount of time. What’s the difference between the way they learn and how I learn?

• Do they have a greater need or a greater desire? I don’t think that’s the case.
• Do I procrastinate more? Perhaps, I do.
• Do I have more things on my “to do” list? Definitely!

However, I know that the more I commit to myself to learning, the more I am able to achieve and exceed my objectives in life.

What are some of the things you do to incorporate learning into your life? Following are nine suggestions:

Obtain a formal education.
In addition to being an excellent opportunity to learn, formal education opens doors. If your work experience is limited, a formal education is a way to let prospective employers and clients know that you can persevere, meet objectives, and succeed.

Attend seminars and workshops.
Each day, thousands of seminars, workshops, and conferences are offered in various locations around the world. Many of these are related to particular professions, and others provide personal growth and development. Some of them are free of charge, such as workshops offered by some church groups and non-profit organizations.

Be selective when determining which seminars, workshops, and conferences to attend. Because of the number of these types of learning opportunities available, make sure that the ones you attend are the ones that will be the most beneficial, either professionally or personally.

Read books, magazines, newspapers, and information available on the Internet.
A wealth of information on myriad subjects is available in print and via the Internet. One of the great things about learning from these sources is that you can engage in this type of learning from almost anyplace, including in the comfort of your own home.

My advice in selecting reading material is the same as that for selecting conferences and workshops. Because of the quantity of books, magazines, and newspapers available, we need to be selective. This applies to the reading we do for enjoyment, as well as the reading that we do in order to learn. It is unrealistic and counterproductive to attempt to read everything that comes into our homes or offices. Attempting to do so becomes overwhelming and can cause one to neglect priorities.

Enhance your listening skills.
Listening to the spoken word is another way that we can learn. By listening to that which is happening around us, we learn so much more than we do when we are speaking. A mother learns to identify her baby's needs by listening to the baby's different cries. A child learns to stay away from danger by listening to his or her mother's warnings. A factory worker learns to perform her job responsibilities by listening to her foreperson's instructions. We all learn by listening to those who know more about a subject than we do.

By spending more time listening and less time talking, we create learning opportunities that will increase our effectiveness and, ultimately, our success.

Listen to recorded media.
We are living in a time of convenience with the many classes, seminars, and books that are available on recorded media. If you have a media player in your car, you are able to make your driving time more productive by listening to this media. An alternative to purchasing the media is to check it out at the local library or to exchange any media you have with others.

If your only venue for listening to recorded media is your car, it is advisable to listen to the same material several times (five or six times) to maximize your learning opportunity. Certainly, if you listen to a recording for the first time while driving, you might want to also make time available to listen to it a second time when you can give it your full attention and take notes. You can then use these notes as you develop your learning plan.

Learn from life's experiences.
When my daughter was a teenager, I felt that I was constantly protecting and correcting her. When I realized that she resented this, I told her that I had made many mistakes in my life and that I would like to help her to learn from my mistakes. I thought that this would protect her from experiencing some of the pain I had felt as a result of these mistakes. Her answer surprised me when she said, "Mom, don't you think I will learn more from my own mistakes than I will learn from yours?" As much as I disliked the idea of my child experiencing pain, I realized she was right. We can learn from the experiences of others, but we learn even more from our own experiences, both positive and negative.

Challenge yourself with new experiences.
Each of us has the opportunity to learn by challenging ourselves with new experiences. Start by making a list of areas in your life that you want to strengthen. From this, you can do some brainstorming regarding the things you might do in order to develop the new strength you desire.

Work with a personal and/or professional coach or mentor.
There are thousands of professional coaches available to assist individuals in learning how to create success in their lives. People hire coaches for many reasons, including the following:

• To set better goals
• To make significant changes
• To make better decisions
• To make a bigger impact on the world
• To increase income or revenues
• To become a better businessperson

A coach or a mentor can be a valuable asset to you as you develop your learning plan and take action to create success in your life.

Develop a personal learning plan. Do you have a personal learning plan? If not, you are not alone, as most people do not take the time to develop such plans. As a result, many people participate in learning activities that do not align with their top priorities and goals.

A personal learning plan need not be elaborate; nor does it need to take a long time to develop. Start by reviewing your priorities and goals and determining what it is that you need to know in order to achieve what you want in life. From there, you can decide the best methods for learning that which you need and/or want to know.

Continuous, lifelong learning is important to success. Albert Einstein once said, "Education is that which remains when one has forgotten everything he learned in school."

Do you have a personal learning plan? Have you determined how you might learn the things you need to know for maximizing your success?