I believe in the concept success.
I believe that the first man was not made for failure, but for continual improvement and momentum, as Adam was made in God’s image.

I believe that God has great plans for us (Jer.29:11) and I believe that we are meant to be the head and not the tail (Deut.28:44.)

But I also believe, that because we never truly get trained in life on how to accurately define success, we many a time get side-tracked by elements that seem like success, which in hind sight only boils down as temporal distractions.

Below, I have listed for you a checklist of Four questions you can always ask to test the validity of what might seem like success:

Does my success cause a disconnection from what’s important?

In my years in working with people, I’ve seen people getting disconnected from necessary elements in their lives, simply because ‘short term’ success caused temporal distractions. I’ve even seen people disconnecting from the very factors that caused them to have success in the first place.

In the pursuit of success, you should ask yourself whether your newfound victories are disconnecting you from your faith and spirituality? Is it disconnecting you from mentors and leaders who will correct you, or are you gathering ‘yes brothers’ around you? Are you being disconnected from good values and ethics? Are good and valuable relationships shipwrecked in the process?

If your health, family and Church life is paying the price in your pursuit of, or Celebration of success, then the price is too high – the victory will never validate the cost!

If ‘success’ causes a disconnection from the important elements of your life, then you have become unbalanced – and imbalance is failure.
The way to correct it is to turn back to the basics, pick up the broken pieces of important things being neglected, ask forgiveness and receive it where necessary, and stay focused.

 Does my success make me significant?

What many people define as success is nothing but hollow victories – they have the good life, but there’s no one around to celebrate it with them, or worse, they have the good life but they don’t invest it in something bigger than self!

Nothing in life will leave you as empty as ‘me, me, me,’ because ‘me, me, me is dull, dull, dull.’ If you ever want to taste the true significance of your life, you have to fill other lives up with your own!

Is your success changing someone’s life; is it impacting your community; does it create opportunities for others; is society better because of you; is your local community and your Church benefitting from your victories; is there a bigger picture attached to it than your own immediate life?

If you are still perplexed by the difference between success (society’s definition) and significance, think of significance as being those things said about you in your eulogy. It won’t be the initials after your name, the number of houses you collected or your company’s balance sheet that will be lauded.

Your life—your legacy—will be defined by the positive and lasting impact you had on people, whether they’re your friends and family, your neighbors, church members, your countrymen or possibly even humankind.

Is my success one-sided?

Many people think of winning as overachievement in only one particular or chosen area. I like to believe, however, that to truly win at life is not to overachieve in one area but to succeed in maintaining balanced achievement in numerous areas.

To truly win, to be a success, is not to overachieve in one area, but to maintain balanced achievement in all areas of our lives.

For instance, is a person a success if they earn millions of dollars but lose their family? Is a person a success if they garner national fame but have no friends? Are you successful if you stand on the mountain peak but neglect the faith that helped you scale those heights in the first place? Of course not. In fact, people like these may live the most pitiful of all lives!

How is your health? How are your finances? Are your relationships, both with your family and others, all that they could be? Is work fulfilling? How would you define winning in these areas?
How are you emotionally? Are you able to exercise your will? Are you growing intellectually? Have you done an attitude check lately? How would you define winning in these areas?
How are you spiritually? Have you thought about going back to your spiritual roots? Are you able to spend time in quiet solitude and prayer from time to time? Are you growing in your relationship with God through your connection to a spiritual house?

As we experience balance in these areas, we will find ourselves much more at peace with ourselves than if we were to experience tremendous success in one area but loss or failure in the other areas.

We were designed to work as congruent, balanced people. This is how we get to the end of our lives and say, “I won.”

Am I successful according to God’s standard?

A test that can help you focus on what’s most important in your life is to consider it from a spiritual perspective. Jesus said that everything God asks can be summed up in two commandments: Love God with all your heart, all your soul, and with all your mind; and secondly, to love your neighbor as yourself. When you are curious about how truly successful you are, ask yourself if you are doing these two things.

Rather than allowing others to define success for you, take time today to create the right definition. Make a list of what success looks like to you, and have the courage to measure your success by standards that are meaningful for your life and your spirituality.

FINAL WORD

There are basic things people want to feel successful.

They are basic things, but someone once said: An expert is someone whose mastered the basics.‘

• Happiness – you can achieve a lot and be unhappy
• Health – money can buy medicine, but they can’t buy health
• Reasonable prosperous and secure
• Friends – people that have a positive influence in all areas of your life
• Peace of mind – only the peace of God surpass all understanding
• Good family relationships
• Hope – a healthy connection to your spirituality

I wish you all valid and Godly success

Dr Fanie Briel