Today I’d like us to look at a popular and clichéd word – success. Whatever your chosen activity in life, you want to see it succeed.
Now, look at your life, then around you. The world is replete with tangible and intangible assets that human beings and even animals need and use daily.
Here is a simple question: from where are all these assets? And a simple answer goes like this: someone thought about and manufactured those assets.
The answer above may look straightforward, and yes, it is. But, someone out there in the world had an idea, thought about it, worked hard at it, made mistakes, learned from their mistakes, refused to give up, and finally produced the assets that humanity depends on daily. Think about it!
If you land a dream job or make it through that degree program, or you’re making a six-figure income, you would declare yourself as a success, right? What impact, if any, are your achievements making in the world?
Is your perceived success available for those coming after you? Is your success a shoulder to stand on for others? Is your success stretching out a helping hand?
If you take a moment and start thinking of your success by considering who might benefit from it, your life might take on new meaning. Your impact in the world might not take on the same dimension as that of Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, Thomas Edison, Galileo, Charles Darwin, Picasso, Beethoven, Nelson Mandela, etc. We know that there is a time to be born and to die (Ecclesiastes 3:2). Will your success still have a voice in the world after you are gone?
You were born for success. There is no doubt about that. And your success, whatever form it may take, should stay behind after you depart from the world (Psalms 49:10; Proverbs 13:22) so that those born after you may build on it.
So, find your gift, refine it and serve it to the world while you are still alive; in other words, redeem the time (Ephesians 5:16). Whatever you may have achieved, you may only call it ‘success’ to the degree that someone out there is benefiting or going to benefit from it. That is true success.
What are you going to do?
My books (a course on self-discovery and self-development for career success) Do Yourself a Favor. Get Up! and Move! and its Study Guide are available on Amazon.com. Click here.
Visit: https://rolandrayk.com for more resources.