Dreaming of Success...

In August '21 - I wrote…

By how much you earn? By where you live? By how little you have to work? Or by the size and make of your car?

Why are we programmed to see objects as a sign of success? And hey, before you say it, I’m just as ‘signs of success programmed’ as the next person.

 

I mean, the car thing has always got me. And It’s possibly a young man’s game and like most, I was suckered in during my sales career where a ‘Ford Mondeo Ghia X’ was perceived as the pinnacle of car hierarchy. And on finally getting my career-eager hands on the keys I found it cornered like a shopping trolley and was really an old man’s car!

 

For the record, at only three days old it was stolen off my drive for parts and all that was left was a bodyshell in a remote field gateway that was taken away to an early company car scrapyard grave. And being success-status-driven I went to the next level reaching BMW status where you find that everyone else on the road, even though they don’t know you, instantly think you’re a @@@@.

It’s kinda sad that we mark success by the outward signs of wealth rather than by what we’ve achieved or by what we’ve done with other people.

You see it’s the things you can’t see that really matter. It’s not where you’ve been, it’s how you’ve done it that counts. It’s experience that makes you smart and being smart leads to success. Success that you simply can’t buy and that you earn, over time.

Now, we are not all world beating athletes, but we can outplay our own dreams and succeed in areas we once thought were unachievable. I know – been there and got the T-Shirt…many times over.

I found that success comes from hours and hours of training, focus and determination and if you feel you have yet to succeed in life, make a plan and start to make it happen. You probably won’t get anything tangible to show for your efforts but inwardly you’ll know what true success feels like and how it’s measured when you look back on your life in the future.

Which is all nice and cosy but, maybe success should be measured more by how you feel. Are you truly happy? Do you feel fulfilled? Have you surrounded yourself with the right people? Are you living in the moment?

If you are, you’ve found success – if not maybe it’s time to measure up.

1,120 Marathons - 261 Ultras - 15 Marathon des Sables - 9 Guinness World Records