Our Definitions Of Success Are Not The Same

Success

What defines success? I'm not referring to the type of success, like accomplishing a challenge or beating a level in a game; I'm talking about this inherent drive to be successful. Think of the most successful people you know: an activist who's creating change in policy, a businessperson who's generated millions or billions in profit, someone who's broken a world record at an unprecedented age. In the age of media and mass communication, we as a society are now able to reach new heights. We can compare ourselves to others and push ourselves harder. Being the best in the city is no longer as impressive as it once was, because now we all know who the national champion is and have watched them compete. Success has become impossibly hard to achieve because the number of people is growing, and the threshold to be successful has been raised.

At least... from that perspective. I've mentioned before that I've always been competitive, and I have always had some ego or a nature to be better than others. I like to think I could have been in the MLB or could have wrestled in college if I wanted, but the reality is I couldn't have, and the reason is that I am not obsessed. Look at someone like Shannon Sharpe, who has talked about his relationships during the NFL and how he would always put his partner second to football. That's not something I care to do. But that's okay, because that's the diversity in beliefs and thoughts that creates such monumental pushes in society. I have a million interests; I dive deep into a passion for a week, a month, a year, then I find another thing to be interested in. Disc golf was a massive hobby of mine, and this year I only played a few times. Before that, I loved golfing with my family, so I learned how to hit a golf ball okay. The point I'm trying to make is that I really enjoy the exponential growth at the early stages of learning, and as a side effect, I don't hone my skills in any one area. Even take these blog posts as an example: I enjoy writing, but not enough to produce world-class prose or to play around with tempo and sentence structure. There are elite writers and poets that I will not hold a candle to because I simply don't have the passion for writing that they do.

I came to this thought process when thinking about business. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about business for a while. I was listening to an audiobook when I decided to start an MBA, and I'm wrapping up that MBA now. But I was watching a video on business today, and I realized I don't actually care about it anymore. I don't want to spend 60-100 hour weeks thinking about a product, thinking about personnel, firing and hiring, chasing leads, creating ad campaigns, selling, generating profit, looking for an exit. I'm going to finish my MBA because I believe education is important and there are lessons to be learned. I also think it would be ridiculous to give up with only a few weeks left. But I realize the person I've always wanted to end up as has never changed. I want to be someone who can sit on their porch in the morning, watch the sunrise and listen to the birds with my partner, drink a coffee, and bring smiles onto the faces of those around me. I don't need to build a massive business for that; I don't need to be the world's best SWE for that, and I certainly don't need to spend the only resource I have, time, helping make someone else's vision of the future come true when I should spend those hours caring for the people who will help be a part of mine. My definition of success has changed. I don't want to level up fast, gather accomplishments and achievements, or put myself on a pedestal. I want to be healthy and active so I can enjoy my life to the fullest. I want to see the world and experience the joys that others have developed. I want to eat unique foods and be a part of groups that go do fun things. Success for me is filling my life with experiences and sharing them with others. Helping other people grow and accomplish their dreams, making people laugh and smile, watching people learn, making my own mistakes and learning from them, ultimately living a rich life. On that note, I'm going to go head over to my parents' house to make more of those memories. To me, being able to go visit my family for dinner on a whim at 25 years old is more of a success than any job or financial status could ever provide.