Success: What Does It Mean To You? | Jack Canfield

Hi, I'm Jack Canfield, and I have an important question for you to consider. And that question is, what does success mean to you? And the reason I ask is because if you don't have a clear vision of what you want to accomplish with your life, you'll find it a lot more difficult to create a life that fulfills you and ultimately makes you happy. So today, I'd like to help you dig deeper into the question of what success means to you so you can create a clear vision for your life that you can use as a guide to ensure your goals and actions are fully in alignment with your most cherished dreams. Now, the first thing I would like you to know about success is that all of us have a different idea of exactly what success is. In all of my years teaching the success principles to others, which is millions of people around the world, when I've asked people to define what success looks like for them, no two people have ever answered that question with the exact same answer. And of course, that stands to reason. Your personal definition of success is going to vary on your, you know, based on your goals, your values, your age, your life experiences and so forth. And sure, you may find that a bunch of people will say that their idea of success means having a lot of money, going to the country club, achieving certain milestones in a business or a career. But when you ask them to clarify what that means to them, you'll find that everyone has their own unique perspective on it. For example, one person's career success is the corner office and the power to create a company policy and lead others to fulfill the company vision, while another person's definition of success is working only 10 hours a week and devoting the rest of their time to their passion projects. So one person's definition of financial success may be to completely be debt free and have the wherewithal to send their kids to college, while another is having a solid eight figures in the bank. There's no one right answer for anybody. It all depends on your desired lifestyle and what your values, your purpose and your passions are. So if you're talking with other people and you realize that your personal definition of success is different from theirs, I want you to know that that's okay. We all have our own ideas of what success looks like. And you will only be able to achieve maximum happiness and fulfillment in your life if you go after your unique definition of success, success as opposed to someone else's, because that's a mistake. I unfortunately see too many people make. They pursue other people's definition of success instead of their own. Let's say maybe their mother or father always dreamed of being a doctor, so they want you to study medicine and go on to become doctors even though you don't enjoy the work or find it fulfilling at all. People do it simply because they know it will make their parents proud or happy. Or maybe they take over the family business, they didn't really want to, but they're supposed to, and they go after this high paying job because that's what they think society expects of them, but it's not really what they want to do.

And they spend the majority of their adult lives doing work they don't love at all.

And they often describe it as spending.

Your whole life climbing up a ladder, only to get to the top and realize the ladder was propped up against.

The wrong wall the whole time.

So we don't want that to happen for you. Now, sure, you've reached the top, but you're not experiencing the happiness, the joy.

And the fulfillment that you'd hoped for.

So as you consider what success means to you, I strongly encourage you to look into your own heart and soul with clear eyes and make sure that your personal definition of success is based.

On what matters most to you. However, a lot of people have a.

Hard time getting clear on what they truly want. They don't know what they want their lives to look like. Now, if you find it challenging to get clear on what your personal definition of success is, ask yourself this question. What does happiness mean to me? And when you imagine yourself experiencing true happiness and fulfillment, what does that look.

Like and feel like to you?

How do you imagine spending most of your time?

With whom and where?

Where do you imagine spending that time? Some people like to work outside, some people want to work inside.

So if you base your definition of.

Success on a vision of your life that you think will bring you happiness and fulfillment, you'll be much more likely to set and achieve goals that move you in that direction. And then your dreams are going to get fulfilled. Another important factor to consider is what is your purpose in life? What were you put on this earth to do or to achieve? When your day to day life is infused with a clear sense of purpose and you feel like the work you're.

Doing is making a positive impact on.

The world, you will experience more meaning and more fulfillment in your life. And I deeply believe that without this sense of meaning, of fulfillment, and any success you pursue will ultimately end up feeling hollow. Now the problem is most people never take the time to really get clear on what their purpose in life is. Maybe they feel their lives are pointless and have no real purpose, or maybe they think it's selfish or egotistical to believe that they deserve to live a life of purpose and impact and fulfillment. But the truth is, we are always making an impact on others in the world around us, whether we do it intentionally or unintentionally. And it's only by getting clear on the kind of impact you most want to make that you're going to be able to show up as your best self and get the results that you want in life. I'd like to ask you a few more questions that will help you clarify your purpose so you can make sure that any definition of success that you hold for yourself will help you achieve the kind of fulfillment you long for in life. And the first of those questions is, what do you love doing? Let's say you won the lottery tomorrow and never had to worry about making money again. How would you choose to spend your time? The answer to that question is a powerful clue to what your purpose is and what success looks like for you. Now, another question to consider is this. What are you naturally good at? Maybe you're a brilliant engineer or you're a problem solver. Maybe you're a great writer or speaker. Maybe you're an excellent teacher or motivator, really good with music. And when your work allows you to use your natural talents and your expertise, peace, success will come more easily to you. And my next question is, what qualities do you most enjoy expressing in the world? For example, do you most enjoy expressing joy and love or peace and togetherness or strength and freedom, optimism and enthusiasm? Whatever it is, these are just some examples to get you thinking. But what I encourage you to do is write down a list of all the positive emotions or qualities that you enjoy expressing expressing in the world and then narrow it down to the two options that are most important to you. And then once you're done, consider how do you enjoy expressing those qualities to others? Do you enjoy expressing them through teaching, through writing, through creating art or coaching, or inspiring others, managing others? Again, the answer is up to you. But consider the kind of work you do and the actions you take in your day to day life and identify the top one or two modes of expression that resonates the most with you. And finally, the last thing I'd like you to consider is if the world were working perfectly according to you, what would be happening in that world? Is it a world in which everyone communicates openly and honestly with each other? One where everyone takes 100% responsibility for their own happiness and fulfillment? Is it one where everyone lives in an environmentally sustainable lifestyle, one where equality and social justice prevails? Because a great way to cultivate a clear sense of purpose is is to be doing work that is helping to make the world a better place. And when you're clear about the kind of world you want to live in, you have a much stronger understanding of what your purpose might be because you might be about helping to create that world. So once you're done considering all these questions, I encourage you to bring them together to create your own life purpose statement that can help you stay clear and focused on your purpose so you can do a better job of manifesting in the world. Now to create your life purpose, combine the first two qualities that you like to enjoy expressing and how you like to express them. And for example, in my perfect world, you want to be that too. But your perfect world? My perfect world, everybody lives their highest vision and has everything they need to be happy. That's why my life purpose statement is inspiring and empowering people to live their highest vision in a context of love and joy, in harmony with the highest good of all concerned. So how can you use your best quality to create the world you want to live in? And when you answer that question, incorporate that answer into your own personal definition of success. You'll have a vision for the ideal life that will be a powerful motivator for you to do the work necessary to achieve that success and create a life that will make you happier than you could ever dreamed of. Now, if you found this video helpful, I recommend you really listen to it because I give you a lot of information and I actually want you to do the work, but also share it with a friend. Make sure you like it and and subscribe to my channel for more videos like this one and for additional mindset tools and resources. Make sure to visit jackcampill.com and check out the links below as well and let me know what you think in the comments. Thanks again for watching.