In my earlier post, How do YOU define success, I talked about how going by a fixed definition of success is not enough, and everyone must try to define their own unique success. In this post, I’ll give an idea of how to set about it along with some of my favorite quotes on success for some extra motivation!

Success is that old ABC – Ability, breaks and courage.

Before you start working on your success, it would be better to make sure you aren’t influenced by any outside voices, and what you are working on really is success for you. To do this, you’ll need to drop any previous ideas and beliefs you had about success, ignore what the society considers as ‘successful’ and also forget what you’ve been doing all this time for a while. You’ll need to see it all from a new and deeper perspective – If no one was there to tell you what to do and how to do it, if no one was going to care what you do and term you as a success or failure, then what would you prefer to do? Moreover, if you hadn’t done anything – either successful or unsuccessful – until now and were just to begin your journey, if you were given a chance to start again today, where would you be? Which path would you take? What would you like to achieve, what will be your priorities? When you are able to answer these questions satisfactorily to yourself, it means that you have defined your success, and you can now start working on it.

There is only one success – to be able to spend your life in your own way.

Use what talents you possess: The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those who sang best.

Now as you are done with the thinking and know for sure what success looks like for you, it’s time to do it! The path may not be easy. You’ll have to step into the unknown, take risks and start doing something you’ve never done before, travel along a road which you’ve never known exists, and which is taken by only a few or maybe even none at all. You’ll be uncertain of every step, facing many failures, objections, obstacles and fears. You may even be forced to accept that all the hard work you did was a waste – that you actually made a mistake and now have to start over. You’ll need to make many detours and U-turns before you finally make it to your destination.

Many a man had finally succeeded only because he has failed after repeated efforts. If he had never met defeat, he would never have known any great victory.

Considering all these overwhelming and intimidating facts about what’s it like when you are trying to create your own path, your own success, the question remains – why should you do it? Isn’t it much better to do what others are doing, know what you need to do, what problems you may face; to be aware of not only the path but also what and where your destination is? After all why should it matter if what you do isn’t something unique, or something with which you aren’t entirely satisfied? At least you are staying safe and are certain of everything – you don’t have to take risks, you are not doing grave mistakes and are not criticized by anyone, then why should you care?

Instead of answering the why’s, I’d just like to tell two facts:

1) If you want to be successful, you need to work. It doesn’t matter whether you want to define your own success or do what everyone else is doing, working is a must in both situations. If you refuse to work, you just can’t be a success of any kind. So it’s better to work on achieving something that makes you happy, even if that means working harder, instead of something that just pleases others and enables you to be more comfortable and safe.

2) You can never stay safe as such, whatever you may be doing. Life is full of uncertainties and anything can happen anytime. You may not be as successful in the coming time as you are right now. You may have to compromise in the future. So it will surely be much better when you look back later on and are able to say, ‘doesn’t matter if it’s not that good now, at least I do what I love and am happy and satisfied with.’ rather than having regrets of all the past decisions you made, and being forced to admit to yourself that you’ve been compromising all your life, and even when you were ‘successful’ as they call it, you were never, and still are not, content with what you do.

Whatever you are from nature, keep to it; never desert your own line of talent. Be what nature intended you for, and you will succeed. Be anything else, and you will be worse than nothing.

What is your idea of success? What makes you happy? It’s time to share your secret of success!