The BIG misperception about success

It appears that man is easily swayed and controlled by perceptions.

Perceptions can be beneficial, they can be detrimental, it is not my intention to discuss it here, but one thing for sure, they are self-limiting.

Ask any person, what comes immediately to mind upon hearing the word “success”?
Common replies would be money, wealth, prosperity etc. which all happen to be right!

What needs clarification is that these are all emblems or manifestations of success.

We are conditioned, in one way or another, to perceive success as these manifestations, which could potentially ruin our pursuit of happiness.

You see, we all crave happiness, anyone who doubts that really lives in another planet or another era!

Happiness is a by-product of self-fulfillment; self-fulfillment essentially stems from the awareness that one is able to accomplish what one set out to do.

Accomplishing what one set out to do, that is success – plain and simple!

It is not money, it is not prestige, and it is not big titles, nothing of the sort! It is merely, to accomplish your ideas, and making them real! Along with that come money, wealth and prestige, which are really just manifestations of a successful life, nothing more than that!

There is another misperception about success.

Because we often define success as money, wealth, prestige, we start to measure success against these things. People compare against one another, the amount of cash they have in their bank accounts. They start to show off their assets (sometimes liabilities). Rich men start to look down on the needy (when they are really not-so-rich in spirit). It reveals the ugly face of humanity; it is not pretty. No wonder it is often said “money is the root of all evil”.

Think for a moment; If we start to define success as “the will and capability to accomplish goals”, the whole scenario is reversed. We do not start by visualizing success with gold coins, with fancy cars, with towering mansions. Instead, we visualize success through the lens of the innate human desire for accomplishments and self-fulfillment. Everyone has that, everyone is born with it.

You no longer require riches, prestige and fame to be successful; all you require is the will to summon that ounce of energy inherent in you, to accomplish an idea arising from your imagination, riches, prestige and fame then follows.

By that, success suddenly becomes by choice, not by chance!