Success is a journey, not a destination. 3 things successful people do
People achieve success in different ways, because people themselves are different. But the process is the same for everyone and is based on unchanging principles.
After more than twenty-five years of meeting successful people and studying success as a subject, John Maxwell developed the following definition of success:
Success is.. .
Have a purpose in life, grow and develop to reach your maximum potential, and sow seeds that benefit others.
From this definition, you can understand why success is a path, not a destination.
No matter how long you live or what you decide to do for the rest of your life, you will never run out of opportunities to develop your potential or the ability to help others.
When you think of success as a journey, you will never have a problem trying to "get" to an elusive final destination. And you will never find yourself in a position where you have reached some intermediate goal only to realize that your true final goal is somewhere far away.
Another benefit of focusing on the path to success rather than arriving at your destination or reaching your goal is that you have the opportunity to succeed today. The moment you move on to finding your purpose, unlocking your potential, and helping others, success is what you do now, not what you hope to achieve in the future.
To better understand the true steps to success, let's look at each one.
Know your purpose
The millionaire industrialist Henry J. Kaiser, who founded Kaiser Aluminum and Kaiser-Permanente, once said:
“There is undeniable evidence that you cannot begin to achieve better results if you do not set some goal in life."
Or, to put it another way, if you don't actively try to find your purpose, you will probably waste your life doing things that will get you nowhere.
Here are some questions to ask yourself to determine your goal:
✔️ What am I looking for? We all have a strong desire buried deep in our hearts. Something that lives in our deepest thoughts and feelings, something that sets fire to our souls.
I am sure that many have already understood what is at stake, while others need a little more time to answer this question. But rest assured that you will find it. Sooner or later, you will definitely find it.
✔️ Why was I created? Each of us is individual. This is one of the reasons why it would be a serious mistake for you to try to be someone else, to try to live someone else's life. Think about your unique combination of abilities, the resources available to you, your background, and the opportunities you have.
✔️ Do I believe in my potential? If you don't believe you have potential, you will never try to realize it. And if you don't want to try to implement it, you will definitely never succeed.
Unleashing your potential
Writer HG Wells believed that wealth, fame and power are not at all measures of success. The only true measure of success is the balance between what we could be and what we have become. In other words, success comes as a result of the growth of our potential.
Potential is nature's gift to us, and what we do with it is our gift to nature.
But at the same time, our potential is probably our biggest untapped resource.
Henry Ford remarked:
"There is no person in the world who is not capable of doing more than he thinks."
We have almost limitless potential, but very few are trying to realize it.
Four principles to help you reach your potential:
- Focus on one main goal.
- Focus on continuous progress.
- Forget the past.
- Focus on the future.
Sowing seeds for the benefit of others
Once you have found your purpose in life and started to reach your potential, you can be sure that you are on the right track. But do not forget about another step on the road to success – helping others. Without this aspect, the journey can be lonely and superficial.
They say that we make a living by what we get, but we create life by what we give. Physician, theologian and philosopher Albert Schweitzer once said:
“The meaning of human life is to serve and show compassion and the desire to help others.”
His path to success took him to Africa, where he served the people for many years.
For you, planting seeds that will benefit others probably won't mean traveling to another country to serve the poor—unless that's the purpose for which you were born. (And if that's the case, you won't be satisfied until you start doing it.) However, if you're like most people, helping others is something you can do right here and now, at home in your home country.
Artist Danny Thomas insisted that “we are all born for a reason, but we all do not understand why. Success in life has nothing to do with what you buy or make for yourself.