How do you define “success”?
I used to define success based on how others defined success – money and all the consumer trappings that money can buy; a full roster of repeat clients; eating in the finest restaurants; first class travel….
Don’t get me wrong. I wouldn’t say no to any or all of these amazing achievements. In fact, the more, the merrier. However, I used to be able to only ‘see’ the big accomplishments as successes.
Now, I have decided to create my own definition of “success”, what success are in my life, and what they mean to me. And in doing so, I have focused on the small successes to celebrate, more so than on the large successes. This means that, no only do I get to celebrate more frequently but I get to have a lot more fun in my life, and I get to treat myself to little treasures more often.
Success now comes to me daily – having the energy to make my own lunch; or going up and down the stairs for the third time in one day; or spending a few hours working on my business; or not feeling brain fog for the first time in weeks; or having enough focus to write a blog post. Heck I even celebrated when I finally got an appointment with a Rheumatologist!! These may seem like very small things to most people, something simply to be done as part of everyday life and not worth celebrating. But to me, I look on all of these accomplishments as being monumental, definitely worth celebrating!
The celebrations aren’t big and definitely not expensive. Sometimes my celebrations simply involve taking a few moments to let myself smile and feel the happiness that is growing inside me. Or I will stop what I am doing and listen to one of my favourite songs. Simple. Easy. But taking the time to acknowledge what has just happened and allow myself to really feel the joy that success (on my terms and based on my definition) brings. For anyone who has a chronic illness, feeling good about yourself and what you are accomplishing does not come easy.
On, and celebrating the small successes in your life isn’t just for those with chronic illnesses. Everyday life is getting tougher and tough for most people. Defining “success” your way, and celebrating even the smallest successes helps bring some relief and happiness into anyone’s life, make life so much better.
So, how do you define success?
And, what accomplishments are you celebrating every day?
