There’s no one-size-fits-all definition of success. People’s life goals tend to vary because different things inspire us and make us tick. So, what Brad Pitt finds fulfilling may be of little personal value to Keanu Reeves.
Also, fulfillment and happiness are synergistic functions of success. How successful an individual is determines their happiness and helps them feel fulfilled.
Are You a Successful Person?
Interestingly, as we established earlier, success is a choice. An individual’s success is subject to the goals they have set for themselves and an awareness of the roadblocks in their way of attainment.
Like battles, humans can choose their successes. If something has yielded failure at each Iteration, the creator may be doing it wrong or have chosen an inappropriate definition of success.
SpaceX Started As a Failure, Judging By General Metrics of Success
After the third failed launch of SpaceX’s gourmet rockets, Elon Musk shared that his team was making progress and only needed to improve the design slightly.
Anyone ignorant of the SpaceX team’s mission statement and goals at the time probably scoffed and laughed at them to scorn after that third failed flight. However, SpaceX is currently nailing scores of annual successful space launches.
Becoming a Phenomenal Person By Controlling Your Choices
Like Elon Musk and the SpaceX team, Oprah Winfrey can say a few things about success, as she has many milestone achievements under her belt.
Oprah braved the gender and African American dichotomy and went on to start a television network. She is the star of a very influential talk show, has a magazine, is worth over $3 billion, and is acclaimed to be one of the 100 most influential women in the world.
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How Pitfalls and Roadblocks Can Make Us Soar
Things have not always been rosy for Oprah, such as the early tragedies of the SpaceX rocket launches. She rode above her troubled childhood and teenage pregnancy to script out the life she wanted for herself.
Even after breaking through the escape velocity of gravitational poverty, Oprah still encountered notable roadblocks in her career and life aspirations.
Learning From Failure and Recalibrating Your Course
For example, Oprah, as the host of a talk show in 1998, sent invites to a handful of white supremacists. She intended to have an intellectual discussion about the extremism of their racial and societal views.
Instead of Oprah succeeding in revealing the intolerance and extremism of these folks on national TV, she later realized that the supremacists solely accepted her invitation to further their ideological cause.
Never Repeat the Same Mistake Twice
After the realization that white supremacists were using her show as a channel to encourage more Americans to fall in line with their extremism, Oprah said to herself, “Never again will I host that kind of show.”
To hold herself accountable, Oprah shared her resolve with the show’s producers. Interestingly, true to her words, Oprah never again allowed individuals with such views on her show.
Personal Values Are Key Determinants of How We Define Success and Fulfilment
In another instance of her successful iteration, Oprah decided to focus an episode of her show on marital infidelity. A man was accompanied by his wife and his girlfriend during the show.
During the trio’s onstage chat with Oprah, the husband revealed that his girlfriend was carrying his child. His wife was left in shock and deeply embarrassed.
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Resonating and Getting in Sync With the Universe
After seeing the hurting wife’s reaction on stage, Oprah promised herself never again put anyone in such a tight spot.
Oprah said of that incident, “I said to my producers, ‘Never again will anyone be embarrassed or shamed or humiliated on my watch.’” Combining all these experiences helped Oprah carve her life purpose and a personal definition of success.
Using Resources at Your Disposal To Achieve Success
Much later in her talk show career, Oprah would reveal that having a hit TV show with phenomenal ratings and the finances that come with it was not her definition of success.
Instead, Oprah discovered that true success, for her, involved finding her true purpose and passion. Using the platform at her disposal for the service of others and self-actualization makes her fulfilled, happy, and satisfied.
Success Should Not Be Your Priority
According to Oprah, the actualization of success, in the generic sense, should never be the heartbeat of anyone who would be truly successful.
Instead, she said, “Strive for the truest, highest expression of yourself… and then use that expression in service to the world.” Oprah then adds that if that is the paradigm by which you see the world, “no matter what your talent or offering, you will be successful.”
What Will Each of Us Be Remembered for After We Are Long Gone
So, instead of judging your progress in any facet of life according to generic metrics of success, it is always better to identify the work that makes you feel fulfilled because it has impacted humanity in some way.
It is a given that we need to make a living by doing a job or starting a business. However, work ought to reflect who we are or who we project to become. So, making a living is not enough; we need to live.
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