What is success?

Success is a very personal subject as everyone has different goals, aspirations and targets. Success is what keeps us happy at all times and should be lasting.

I often wonder what success is and hear mostly that you are successful once you have a great career which earns you lots of money. However, I don't believe that is necessarily success. Most of you would agree that money doesn't always make us happy, hence it is not 'success' for all of us. Let's look at some of the things I have achieved in my life so far:

I started a new life by moving from the Netherlands to Australia with two suitcases in my hand and the rest of my 'life' on a ship on its way to Sydney. It was all very daunting and scary but exciting and fun at the same time. A whole new city and country to explore and to love. Now, 13 years later, I have a wonderful family, a very close circle of friends and my own business! To me, that is success!!

A few years ago I discovered I have Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia ('CML'). That was a huge shock to the system considering I was doing all the right things to be healthy. The good part is that it was discovered at an early stage, so the treatment would be minimal, on a daily basis, until a cure is found. With enormous support from friends and family I am beating the dis-ease and live a very healthy and normal life. To me, that is success!

Having worked in the Financial Services industry for nearly 20 years working without real satisfaction in my career, I made the decision it was time to apply my skills, experience and knowledge to my own business. The result is that I work with clients I want to work with, I run workshops and training sessions, I meet a great variety of people and build up a great network and referral base and I have the flexibility to work how I want to work and when I want to work. In the meantime I continuously learn and further development my skills and knowledge. To me , that is success!

It is a great feeling to just be still on occasion and think about what you have achieved so far. I realise that it is not easy to identify success. I have found that people who are pondering whether they are on the right path in life, often forget what they have already achieved so far and how successful they already are! Especially in this day and age, where most of our lives revolve around technology and materiality.

Perhaps you can think about the following components that could make up success:

• Happiness: Think of the feelings of pleasure or contentment you have about your life
• Achievement: Which accomplishments compare favourably against similar goals others have strived for
• Significance: The sense that you have made a positive impact on people you care about
• Legacy: A way to establish your values or accomplishments so as to help others find future success.

This might help you even further in finding out where you have success in your life? Success is often coming from an unexpected corner of your life and we need to consciously remind ourselves that being who we ARE is already a SUCCESS in itself!

I'll leave you with this quote by Jim Rohn:

"Success is what you attract by the person you become. Therefore, you are an attractive person"