“The accomplishment of an aim or purpose” – Oxford languages
Success is a concept where everyone has the opportunity to define it differently. The beauty of the human race is that no one person is the same and therefore it is most likely that everyone’s definition of success is different.
Due to a lack of knowledge, people make assumptions, they create opinions, and these opinions are only based on their thoughts, their experiences, and when all they have in their head is certain voices, their perspective is very skewed with no empathetic understanding to others journey.
It is important to remember this as you travel on your journey, that no one elses definition of success is the same as yours. For some, it may be internal, for others, it may be external. The most important thing is to know within yourself what success is in your life.
So, What is success for you?
The only person that can answer that question for you, is you. No one else should determine what you consider to be successful. Success can only truly be defined in relation to what you have personally set out to achieve. And to understand what you have set out to achieve, it is critical to know your purpose.
In a results driven world, where numbers, scores, and status are so often used as the measurement for success, without purpose, these are all you really have to assess your achievement. When you have a higher purpose, what is seen on the surface to the public eye becomes irrelevant to the journey you are on.
Here’s a little story:
I once took a class at University where in my final exam I got a score of 38/100. After initial disappointment, I realized something, that my definition of success was not about the score that I had gotten, it was actually about all that I had learned. In that class, I started with a knowledge base of near zero, whereas most my classmates started with a knowledge base of over 50, so it is only understandable that when the professor came to mark our final exam, my knowledge was considerably lower than everyone elses. So I wrote an email and said this, “if you are going to grade me on what I have achieved, I have failed, but if you are going to grade me on what I have learned, then I have passed”. The professor never responded to that email….but I passed the class.
As I’ve continued to grow in this life, this has been a poignant moment to reflect upon and show me that my definition of success is about what I learn and the journey that I am on, rather than the results I achieve.
Success is the person I am becoming through the journey that I am on.
I have discovered my purpose and I follow that everyday. It reflects in my actions, in my decisions, and therefore it allows me to measure my own success and no one else.
I encourage you, whatever industry you are in, whatever path you are on, to clearly define your purpose for your life, your reason for being, to enable you to accurately measure success in your life. Don’t let society define it for you.
Find your purpose and you’ll find your way
When I look at the bigger picture, my ability to play football has given me so much. It has given me the chance to travel the world, it has given me the chance to inspire others, it has given me the chance to meet so many people from different cultures. I wake up each day reflecting on how lucky I am to have a new chance, and a new opportunity to make the most of the day I have been gifted. I am physically capable of playing a sport I love, intellectually capable to converse with others, and consciously capable to know that today is a gift, and I am fortunate to live it.
Your family, friends, colleagues, teammates, classmates, they all view the world in a different way to you. Individual perspectives and opinions create diversity and without this diversity, our world would be one sided and boring. No this isn’t about conflict, this is about each individual having something to believe in, something to live for through what they see. This is about people taking a step back before making judgement and looking at someones situation from a different lens to your own; perspective taking. It’s about putting yourself in someone else’s shoes for a second and allowing them to be them, and believe in what they believe.
or difference, but with a little empathy, we all have the ability to step back and just respect what others see and let them embrace their perspective. With this empathetic understanding of others opinions, we will still have our diverse world with individual perspectives, however embracing this difference instead of creating conflict will lead to a more peaceful world.
Each and every individual has the ability to learn, about themselves, about their environments, about this world, it is whether or not the individual is open and willing to learning. As previously mentioned in my ‘
arn. Learning and understanding how our style of play is to counter the oppositions, however we learned a harsh lesson in our game, and that was that of the desire and will to win. Although we had a game plan which we had learned, we only partially executed it, but the greatest let down was our desire to win. It is a lesson that we need to learn as we continue to strive for the levels of performance that we expect from ourselves. Back to training this week to grow from it and put things right this coming week.
We live in a world that is so fast paced and technological that we all expect things almost instantaneously after going in search for them. Not often do we see individuals working hard, and every day continuing to persevere along a path for something they really want, instead often taking the easy way towards something comfortable and familiar.
I have patiently waited for nearly two years to see my father again, and I was reunited with him this weekend as he came up to watch my game. Although we FaceTime each week, nothing beats seeing loved ones in person and enjoying their character and being in close proximity! It was a special weekend and I was very fortunate to spend time with him, especially after the journey and experiences I have had in the last two years!
So often with failure, we look elsewhere to place blame, and even when we do understand that it is our own making, rarely do we truly process why we are failing, or even if it is considered to be failing. Identifying what part of the process failed and recognizing it for the next time you are in the situation is very important to making progress. It is also an individuals response to failure that truly sets them apart from others. How you react, in any situation is a huge dictator of character, and with failure specifically, it separates the strong from the weak, the motivated from the unmotivated. Success does not happen without failure, so embrace the challenge to better yourself, to keep persevering, knowing that one day, your greatest failures will lead to your greatest successes.
As opportunities come, most of them come with a change in environment. Now going from a place where you have been settled and comfortable to a brand new place can be a daunting task for anyone, anywhere. Often times, opportunities take you to a new place with no one you know, or where nothing seems familiar, but the unknown side of an opportunity is what should add to the excitement of it. Embrace the unknown, knowing that this new environment will soon become friendly and familiar to whatever you may be doing. Adapt to change with patience and trust, and then make the environment your own.
What a feeling it is to be back in New Zealand though. There is just something about the freshness of the air, the song of the birds, and the blue of the ocean that just cannot be beaten anywhere in the world. In the days that I have been here, I have experienced the various weather patterns Wellington has to offer, its wild wind, but also its stunning summer weather. Lets hope there is more warm summer days than blustery wet days in the coming months.