I define real success as living in alignment with our Deeper Self… as consistently as we can.
That’s it. When we are living from this perspective, despite struggles or strife, we are most satisfied inside and of greatest value to each other.
But, we’re often misled by society.
We’re told success is how much money we have, houses we build, or cars we own. We’re also given the message that success is defined by the visibility, followers, scores, ranks or bullet points we achieve. We’re even told it means we’ve mastered certain skills or do things perfectly according to some criteria.
These are all fine and good. But these are what we should only call “external validators” — not real success. These can validate our worth according to current social standards of what we can measure, value, see, and reinforce. But they fail to validate our life with the Highest Truth within us.
And, regardless our worldview or belief system, we can all agree that what society values, and how it measures us, is often not sufficient in describing our value, nor is it correlated with what’s best for us or others.
There’s a place for such external validators. Definitely. They give us leverage. No doubt. But they can’t guide us. Actually, the decisions and paths we quietly respect most, I find, are the ones that decidedly aren’t led by pursuing them at all.
The more we’re able to place external validation in its rightful place is the degree we can really succeed. And have real fulfillment. And be of real value. In what really matters.
Lifestyle Mapper
Ranjeeth Thunga