Mar 25, 2021
Hi everybody. Welcome to another episode of the podcast. So today we’re going to explore what success looks like? What does success look like in others? Is it what we see? Cars, books, houses, boats, pools, jewelry, designer clothes, belonging to the right friend group, belonging to the right country club, doing the right social activities, helping the right organization? This is all the tangible things we can see from the outside in photos on social media. This is all based in judgement and comparison. We measure ourselves against them. We decide if we’re successful based on others measures of success. And in 2020 we’ve had no lack of ways we can look around and measure someone else’s success and then judge us to see if we measure up to them. Social media followers, the look of a brand, the number of books you’ve written, the number of books you’ve sold, the number of downloads on a podcast. So I ask you to write down what does success look like to you? And then we’ll define what a successful “day” looks like to me. So I challenge you to ask yourself, what do you think success looks like in other people? And what do you define as a successful day to you? Who are you being as a successful cook, reader, and writer? And are you building in parts of your life where you pay attention to who you are, the gift of your life, and what lights you up at the end of the day?
- I’m alive. I woke up. If I’m alive, I know I’ve had a successful night. My body worked, I didn’t get woken up, I feel refreshed, I feel ready. I’m breathing. I’m alive. Huge success. Did you know that not everyone has the luxury of this success? Instead we hate mornings, hate getting up, hate our beds, our sleep, our rooms, etc.
- I can walk and move to the coffee pot. I mean seriously, can you believe we even get to do this. My legs move me across the floor. Lately I’ve been walking every day around lunch time because I take different parts of me on a walk. One day I take my brain on a walk. Next day I take my legs on a walk. Then I take my business on a walk. I take my faith on a walk. And sometimes I take a friend or my sister on a walk and we talk to each other. So good. Success to me is being able to move. And then I get to take a shower. Huge success! I love the hot water, shampoo, soap, deodorant, perfume, and my sweaters, earring, jeans, and glasses.
- I have time, because I’m alive to sit for and drink my coffee and read and write. This starts to form the foundation of my life as a writer. Taking time to think and to create high-quality thoughts and ideas is foundational.
- I have a day to fill with impacting others in a positive way. Who did I connect with today and did I make their day better, because I’m having a good day. I teach, record podcasts, send text messages, answer in facebook groups, call family on the phone, write letters and notes. Cook meals, plan meals, plan gathering. My day is filled with activities that impact others.
- I can go to sleep at night. This is really key. I know when I’m not able to sleep, something is off track. Maybe it’s what I’m drinking or eating. Maybe it’s some relationship I need to clean up. Maybe I’m living too much in the future. Maybe I’m not being grateful and appreciative for what I have, which is a life where I can take care of me and make a positive impact on those around me - warren, kids, friends, mom, sisters, brother, extended family, students, email list, social media followers and you.
- We get to define our idea of success. And for me it’s not the things, it’s the experience of my life. The experience of my days. The experience of being alive in a ½ awesome ½ messy world where I’m ½ messy and ½ awesome and my family is ½ messy and ½ awesome and I get to decide how I want to show up. I can reevaluate how I want to show up. Life changes. Kids grow up. Pandemics happen. People die. There is sadness, for sure, but we totally have the ability to define what success means to us each day.
Things We Mention In This Episode:
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