When we think of success, we often think of rich people who operate multi-million dollar businesses. We think of actors, athletes, authors, and musicians who get their pictures on the covers of magazines and across the Internet. And then we compare ourselves to these images of success and deem ourselves complete failures.
Does this sound familiar?
I know that I’ve fallen for this trap. Take it one step further and we start reading books and blogs about how to become successful. Soon, our inboxes are filled with messages that continue to support this negative view of ourselves. The messages often start something like this:
Dear Dan,
Are you tired of never reaching the goals you’ve set out to reach? Would you like to make this year the year that you find success beyond your dreams?
I quickly unsubscribe to email with messages like these. Why? Because the writer does not even know me. They base their message on their own desire to make money by selling me their book or their program rather than truly getting to know what my goals are in life. And they use negative messages to try to accomplish that goal.
Success Is What You Want It to Be
Don’t let anyone else define your success. Success is found by setting your own rules. It doesn’t have to include monetary success. And it doesn’t have to include popularity or fame.
I’ve been writing and blogging for years. I still don’t reach more than a few hundred people a day. I don’t make $100,000 a year as a writer. Does that make me a failure? If I set an unreasonable goal to make a six-digit income as a blogger in a year, yes. But that isn’t my goal.
Your goal doesn’t have to be big. It can be simple and still be effective. My blogging goal is simply to increase my traffic and income by 10% each year. That means if I reach 10,000 readers this year, I simply need to reach 11,000 readers next year. If my income from blogging is $10 this year, it simply needs to be $11 next year.
That’s all I want. Why? Because I’ve discovered that when we push too hard, we’ll fall short. When we fall short, we feel like a failure. When we feel like a failure, we give up. And guess what happens when we set modest goals? We usually surpass those goals. That motivates us to keep going.
Here’s What Real Success Looks Like
- Improving at your craft on a regular basis.
- Regularly producing quality product.
- Making positive connections with like-minded individuals.
- Doing what’s best for your physical, emotional, and mental health.
- Being a good parent, spouse, or friend.
- Setting and completing simple goals.
- Creating and sticking to a few good habits.
That’s it. Success is what you decide you want out of life. It’s not what others tell you that you have to achieve.
Soon I’ll be publishing my first online course on goal-setting.
I’m calling it…
Your Time to ShineÂ
The course will focus on simple ways that you can learn to develop habits that will help you to reach your own goals, whatever those goals might be. I’m not going to promise you that I’ll help you write a book or make more money. I simply want to help you develop simple habits for success.
If you’re interested in learning more about simple habits and my upcoming course, sign up for my newsletter and stay up to date. You’ll also get a free copy of my ebook, The Happiness of Simple, and more.
