True Meaning of Success

TRUE MEANING OF SUCCESS
EXCERPT FROM JOHN MAXWELLS
THE SUCCESS JOURNEY
One of the most common mistakes and one of the costliest is thinking that
success is due to some genius, some magic, something or other which we do
not possess.
-Maltbie D. Babcock
The problem for most people who want to be successful is not that they
cannot achieve success. The main obstacle is that they misunderstood success.
What is success? What does it look like to be successful? Most people have a
vague picture of what it means to be a successful person looks like this:
The wealth of Bill Gates
The physique of Arnold Schwarzenegger or Cindy Crawford
The intelligence of Albert Einstein
The athletic ability of Michael Jordan
The business prowess of Donald Trump
The social grace and poise of Jackie Kennedy
The heart of mother Theresa
Many of us picture success as looking like some other person. But its obvious
that you and I cannot be someone other than who we are- and we especially
cannot be eight other people! And more important than that, you should not
want to be. If you tried to become just like everyone of these other people, you
would not be successful. You would be a bad imitation of them and you would
eliminate the possibility of becoming the person you were meant to be.
Hebrews 11:40
God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they
should not be made perfect.
The wrong picture of success:

Even if you avoid the trap of thinking that success means being like some other person,
you might still have a wrong picture of success. Frankly, the majority of people
misunderstand it. They wrongly equate it with achievement of some sort, with arriving
at a destination or attaining a goal. Here some of the most common misconceptions
about success:
WEALTH
Probably the most common misunderstanding about success is that its the same as
having money. A lot of people believe that if they accumulate wealth, they will be
successful. But wealth does not bring contentment or success.
Industrialist John D. Rockefeller, a man so rich that he gave away more than $350
million in his lifetime, was once asked how much money it would take to satisfy him. His
reply, Just a little bit more. King Solomon of ancient Israel, said to be not only the
wisest but the richest man who ever lived, asserted, Whoever loves money never has
enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.
Wealth and what it brings are at best fleeting. For example, in 1923, a small group of the
worlds wealthiest men met at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago, Illinois. They
were a whos who of wealth and power. At that time, they controlled more money
than the total amount contained in the United States Treasury. Here is a list of who was
there and what eventually happened to them:
Charles Schwab- president of the largest independent steel company- died broke.
Arthur Cutten- greatest of the wheat speculators- died abroad, insolvent.
Richard Whitney- president of the New York Stock Exchange- died just after release
from Sing Sing prison.
Albert Fall- member of a U.S. presidents cabinet- was pardoned from prison so that
he could die at home.
Jess Livermore-greatest bear on Wall Street-committed suicide.
Leon Fraser-president of the Bank of International Settlements- committed suicide.
Ivan Kreuger- head of the worlds greatest monopoly- committed suicide.
Even Greek millionaire Aristotle Onassis, who retained his wealth and died at a ripe old
age, recognized that money isnt the same as success. He maintained that after you
reach certain, money becomes unimportant. What matters is success.
A Special Feeling
Another common misconception is that people have achieved success when they feel
successful or happy. But trying to feel successful is probably even more difficult than
trying to become wealthy. Look at real estate developer Donald Trump (currently the
president of the United States of America), for example. He said that, The real measure
of success is how happy you are. I have a lot of friends who do not have money, but they
are a lot happier than I am, so therefore I say that they are probably more successful.
Trump, whom many considered successful, believes that happiness is success. Maybe
his happy friends think he is the successful one. This belief demonstrates that many
people equate success with what they dont have.
The continual search for happiness is primary reason that so many people are
miserable. If you make a happiness your goal, you ate almost certainly destined to fail.
You will be on a continual roller coaster, changing from successful to unsuccessful with
every mood change. Life is uncertain, and emotions are not stable. Happiness simply
cannot be relied upon measure of success.
SPECIFIC AND WORTHWHILE POSSESSIONS
Possessions are at best temporary fix. Success cannot be attained or measured that way
for it will not bring you success or long-term contentment just like as you have expected
it.
POWER
Charles McElroy once joked, Power is usually recognized as an excellent short-term
anti-depressant. That statement contains a lot of truth because power often gives the
appearance of success, but even then, it is only temporary.
Youve probably heard before the quote from English historian Lord Acton: Power
tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Abraham Lincoln echoed that
belief when he said, Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a mans
character, give him power. Power really is a test of character. In the hands of a person
of integrity, it is tremendous benefit; in the hands of tyrant, it causes terrible
destruction. By itself, power is neither positive nor negative. And it is not the source of
security or success. Besides, all dictators- even the benevolent ones- eventually lose
power.
ACHIEVEMENT
Many people have what I call destination disease. They believe that if they can arrive
somewhere- attain position, accomplish goal, or have relationship with the right
person-they will be successful. At one time, I had a similar view of success. I defined it
as the progressive realization of a predetermined worthwhile goal. But over time I
realized that definition fell short of the mark.
Simply achieving goals does not guarantee success or contentment. Look at what
happened with Michael Jordan. A few years ago, he decided to retire from basketball,
saying that he had accomplished all the goals he had wanted to achieve. And then he
went on to play baseball in the minor leagues- but not for long. He could not stay away
from the game basketball, playing the game, being in the midst of the process, was the
thing. You see, success is not a list of goals to be checked off one after another. Its not
reaching a destination. Success is a journey.
The right picture of success

So how do you get started on the success journey? What does it take to be a success?
Two things are required: the right picture of success and the right principles for getting
there.
The picture of success is not the same for any two people because we are all created
differently as unique individuals. But the process is the same for everyone. Its based on
principles that do not change. After more than twenty-five years of knowing successful
people and studying the subject, I have developed the following definition of success:
Success is
knowing your purpose in life, growing to reach
your maximum potential, and sowing seeds that
benefit others.
Success is a journey rather than a destination. No matter how long you live or what you
decide to do in your life, you will never exhaust your capacity to grow toward your
potential or run out of opportunities to help others. When you see success as a journey,
youll never have the problem of trying to arrive at an elusive final destination. And youll
never find yourself in a position where you have accomplished some final goal, only to
discover that youre still unfulfilled and searching for something else to do.
Another benefit of focusing on the journey of success instead of on arriving a destination or

achieving a goal is that you have the potential to become success today. The very moment
that you make shift to finding your purpose, growing to your potential, and helping others,
successful is something you are right now, not something you vaguely hope one day to be.
To get a better handle on these aspects of success, lets take a look at each one of them.

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TRUE MEANING OF SUCCESS

EXCERPT FROM JOHN MAXWELLS

THE SUCCESS JOURNEY

The wealth of Bill Gates

The physique of Arnold Schwarzenegger or Cindy Crawford

The intelligence of Albert Einstein

The athletic ability of Michael Jordan

The business prowess of Donald Trump

The social grace and poise of Jackie Kennedy

The heart of mother Theresa

The wrong picture of success:

The right picture of success

Another benefit of focusing on the journey of success instead of on arriving a destination or

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