This new Dimension of Success

Fortunately, more and more people today (successful or not) begin to be aware and to integrate this “other” dimension of Success that is not as promoted as the social and the material dimension.

Actually, as human beings made out of feeble flesh, bones, we spontaneously give to the success this dream-dimension of an eased-moneyed-life with all of these facilities that success usually brings into one’s life. Behind the image of success, our human brains used to see the end of the tightened belts period, the end of our worries about the cost of our children health care and education, an easier access to pleasure and to all these little things that daily media hype feed us with.

Now, to make it clear, there is NOTHING wrong AT ALL with this. It IS NORMAL to benefit from all of these things that we have worked so hard for in a life time. It just is totally wrong though, to think that the lives of successful person have gone easier or that they require less effort. They just have a sort of more “legitimate right” to enjoy this DESERVED RECOMPENSE resulting from a life time of efforts (when this is the case of course). 

I am not saying here that only successful person deserve enjoying these recompenses. EVERYONE actually deserves to enjoy the profits of one's life time efforts. And no one is to blame for wishing to get to this stage of life called Success, a concept which is meant to evolve for certain important reasons.

But first, let us get back to the definition of success so as to make ourselves a better idea of what it actually is and involves.

Whether you accept it or not, your personal success is linked to the world. What kind of links do you want to leave?

Today’s definition of Success and of Successful Life.

          Success:

Here is a quick definition of success: “Colloquial term used to describe a person that has achieved his or her personal, financial or career goals.

Achievement of an action within a specific period of time or within a specified parameter. Success can also mean completing an objective or reaching a goal. "

Now, this definition has been taken from a business dictionary and it is thus normal that the major components of the definition are linked to business. But, the majority of us have linked at least once the success to this material aspect and level of life, haven’t we? And we are overwhelmed everyday by coaches, trainings and promises of strategies destined to make us reach this “successful life” shown through the images of some “social standards of life to achieve”.  

          Successful life:

Now, a successful life is meant to be a life where various aspects of one’s life have been achieved, regardless of whether this is about given social standards or about deep inner desires of change that have been realized.

In any case, it is intersting to figure out the dimensions involved in success.

What dimensions are involved in a succesful life.

Of course to begin with, there is this very interpersonal dimension linked to the self confidence that results from the satisfaction of having achieved one or several personal goals. This normally should easy the achievement of well-being. But is it always the case?

Then come the other dimensions, the social one (being recognized as a successful person, the access to some higher level of relationships and contacts, etc.), the material and financial dimension, the health dimension (in terms of physical health and not in terms of mental health since mental health is not the result of success but the result of awareness) thanks to the material means allowing access to a better standard of health care, etc.

The mental and spiritual dimensions are not the ones we see first in success stories.

The spiritual and mental dimension may be present or not, depending on each one’s personal convictions, values and way of living, but I noticed though that the higher you get in success and the more opportunities you normally have to entertain your soul. This is like a sort of natural need to reaching some higher grounds as and when of one's personal ascension.

Note though, that feeding one’s soul (just like mental health) is not at all related to success but more to certain awareness.

Thus, a successful life is about what satisfaction and advantages I get from my work, efforts, perseverance, etc. It is about the UTILITY of MY ideas, business, activities, inventions, realizations, etc. (no matter how good or bad they are), but this is a utility linked to profit, to MY gain, to MY fame, to MY social recognition, etc.

And this has been for ages, the standard and accepted unconscious definition of success and of a successful life.

When the  ”I” turns into ”what I can do for them”, the well-being and happiness are immediately in with the spiritual and the mental dimensions.

Now the point is about how certain values, when involved in a life, can bring more appeasement and soul easing.

When in a successful life, you begin to think in terms of  “what you can do for others”, then you automatically  open yourself to some spiritual and mental dimensions. Note that mental dimension here is very different from the interpersonal one explained earlier. This mental dimension we are talking about here, is rather about inner peace.

Actually, when you open your mind to go beyond the Me, Myself and I (I am great, I have succeded, I am important, I am rich, I have created this and that, I am known, I am feared, admired, etc.), you give yourself a free ticket to to a level of awareness, of well-being and of happiness that words can not explain. And in addition, you give yourself the assurance of leaving your name and footprint in history.   

As a matter of fact, no matter what your activities, business, projects, ideas, inventions are, there ALWAYS is a way to make them contribute to leave a positive footprint to the posterity.

Now I am not telling you to distribute your shares or profit to the needy (which can be an option though). I am talking about bringing your business, idea, invention, project the HIGHEST ADDED VALUE ever. I am talking about allowing your activities and yourself to be not only part but a major actor of a much bigger adventure and process that the one you are in now.

When turning the I into "what I can do for others", you bring your contribution to the CONSTRUCTION OF A POSITIVE CHANGE around you, no matter what this contribution is.

We definitely are indebted to the posterity.

This new dimension of success is about leaving something to the posterity.

Why? 

Because it is also part of your mission to bring hope, dreams and some reasons to smile to the posterity. This is even more the case if you are parent, but not being parent actually does not spare you from this duty.

One’s success is not, as we may think, only related to oneself or one’s close environment. I believe it wrong to pretend having succeeded one’s life yet having left or done nothing in terms of positive change and impacts. This is not success for me. This is pure apothecary business. This is like taking from cheap and selling it twice the price elsewhere with no value added.

Since, whatever may be our personal goals and dreams today, because of the world that we live in and because of these things that we have done to it, these dreams and goals should necessarily include a part dedicated to our children's future.

The fact is that, whether we accept it or not, we are INDEBTED TO THE POSTERITY the same way that our elders have been indebted to us. 

We have this responsibility of leaving behind us something important enough to help our children bear the climatic change, the demographic explosion, to the upsurge in violence and silliness, to the insufficiency of food resources,… and all of these non-pleasant and dangerous effects resulting from OUR presence and ACTIONS, in the best possible ways and conditions.

This should not only be by simple human concern for our other human congeners. This is an obligation, a duty, IN REPARATION OF WHAT WE LEAVE TODAY AS A WORLD TO OUR CHILDREN and which results from our pretended highness and outstanding cleverness!

This is the least that we owe them and that we owe to ourselves anyway.

So at the end of our successful day, month, year, period, ..life, we really have this legitimacy to say that we actually HAVE succeeded our life. ©

 Cornélia ANDRIAMASY RABEMANANJARA

Make It Happen!Mada

Personal & professional motivation-mentoring program.

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