Success

“Success is merely the process of fulfilling your own hopes and dreams–not the standards set by society, but by the standards set by you.”
George Pataki

If success is the process of fulfilling your own hopes and dreams, clearly the first step is to have your own hopes and dreams. Other people are very happy to tell us what we should be doing. Some of them are great at manipulating us into thinking that their wishes are what we want too. Often parents try to persuade their child to follow in the same career footsteps as they did. Or perhaps they encourage him to take a more prestigious career path even though it isn’t the right thing for him. He might well go on to have a prestigious job, but if he isn’t thriving and happy in it, he isn’t really successful.

Society has it’s own set of standards too. Some jobs are considered as more desirable than others. It is not just parents that encourage us to go for a more high-paying and prestigious job. There is a general understanding that it is better to get a university education than one from a community college. But society ignores the fact that some people would be more successful graduating from a community college and getting a job that is not prestigious.

It is time for you to set your own standards. Don’t let your parents, or society, or anyone else tell you what is best for you. Only you can know that. Only you can know what it is that you really want and value. Only you can define what success means to you. Once you have established what your own individual hopes and dreams are, then all you need to do is to fulfill them. Start taking action towards acheiving your dreams as soon as you have defined them. There is no time to lose.