by: Jordan Cheng
Success is different thing to different people.
It may be making a million dollar from business venture.
It may be achieving the position of influence and respect in one's corporate career.
It may be climbing the tallest mountain in the world.
It may be simply being happy at whatever one is doing, no matter how insignificance it may be to other people.
It may be to fulfill one's passion of pursuing a hobby as a career, such as cutting the first music album or publishing the first book.
I have seen people in high corporate positions, living unfulfilled life year after year engaging in the rat race, only looking forward to retirement in the distance future.
I have seen hawker store helpers who seem to live simply but happily, always serving customers with joy and passion.
I have seem people who quit from a successful corporate job to teach yoga, go teaching, be a writer or painter, etc.
Are they successful?
The real question you should ask yourself is, does it matter whether you are successful or not?
If the answer is yes, then the next question is: Who does it matter, yourself or other people?
Most people wanted success not for themselves, but for others.
It is hence important to ask yourself: What kind of success do you want?
Are you asking deep inside your heart how you define success?
Is your definition of success dependent on other people's perceptions?
I always remember and concur with what the singer, Kit Chan said about success: "Success is the courage to pursue one's dream boldly". Despite this inspiration verse being over used and may even sounds like a cliché, I like the beauty of its simplicity.
>From more than twenty years experience of pondering, searching and achieving varies level of success, I have found that success is never a static concept. It takes different forms at different stages of one's life. While success can have many definitions, the sure fire way of failure is to be too mindful of how others perceive and judge our success and failure.
This is unfortunately the weakness of many people. Few people dare to be different. Most people tend to like to bask in the comfort of being among the majority, doing the things that most people do and feel accepted.
It is human nature to want to feel accepted. After all, who wants to do anything that receive disapproval from everyone else? On the other hand, the need to conform to the majority view is often the killer for individuality. If one is afraid to be different, how can he ever achieve anything outstanding?
The mainstream media likes to portray "successful people" as someone who has characteristically achieved certain level of wealth, power or fame in the society. And so people without a critical thinking mind, or the so-called unenlightened, would elect the pursuit of wealth, power and fame as the ultimate life goals.
There is no greater misery than being trapped within the conventional perception of success.
How many in high corporate positions find it almost impossible to free themselves from the bondage of the endless energy-sapping ego games in the corporate world, regardless of how much their inner-self detest it?
People who are more spiritually attuned started searching inward to ask what they really want in their life. Their drive and courage to find true freedom eventually prompted them to take bold and criticism-defying actions to embark on a new direction in life.
In takes a considerable amount of courage because their friends, colleagues, spouse, or parents would likely not approved of what they choose to do. Nevertheless, with enlightened faith, they forge ahead to pursue their dreams. With unwavering determination, they finally find the real success in life, which brings them true happiness and fulfillment. To them, they are "retired" because they are no longer working for a living. Instead, they are indulging in a hobby or passion and make a comfortable living out of it.
As for those who are deeply entrenched in the trapping of corporate "success" and perks, it is rare that many would take on a route of enlightenment. Instead, they would usually motivate themselves further to strive harder, become more politically savvy and meaner, so that they are able to acquire whatever status and wealth that society expected of them. So they thought.
The undeniable reality is, their soul is dying inside. They may know it, for which they choose to ignore because the "price is simply to high to let go". Or, they may not even be aware, having been hopelessly hypnotized by the society's definition of success, and totally oblivious to the nagging voice within.
It is not difficult to observe this irony of life simply from the amount of information in the media about retirement planning.
The reason why everybody is talking about retirement is because "work" is being defined as something unpleasant and something which people will choose not to do if they can afford to. Pursuing hobbies do not fall into the category of work. Hence, everybody is planning long and hard to "hopefully have enough to retire one day". Some invest their hard earn money in unit trust investment, having tremendous faith in the fund management experts. Some who do not foresee themselves able to ever earn enough to retire will resort to buying TOTO, Big Sweep or 4D. These are the perfectly legal means of achieving the goal of retirement. I really respect these people who, despite being disadvantaged in the competitive game of life, never give up on the chance to find improvement in their life.
So, what is your definition of success?
Are your goals of success meant to gain applauds and admiration from others?
Or to bring fulfillment deep within your heart?
Or simply to stay safely among the mainstream lifestyle of the society?
Defining success is far more difficult than attaining it. People often chase after their tail for success, always seems to be reaching but never. Many had spend a considerable number of years achieving what they started out to do but find little meaning or fulfillment when they finally reached their goals.
If you have not ask yourself this question because you are "too busy", it is worthwhile to give some priority to it now.
If you have long been dissatisfied with you job, it is a tell tale sign that you may be climbing the wrong ladder of success. It is a poor choice to numb yourself to the situation.
Everyone have within his reach to live a successful life, if only he can define it.
