Tonight I was talking with a friend about success and accomplishments and the conversation was quite interesting. Then when we discussed success to others and the conversation got defensive… this really made me think and put success into perspective.
Success can be measured on a variety of variables, but one thing it should NEVER be measured on is against the success of someone else. Success comes in various shapes and forms to each individual person because they weigh success differently in their minds.
For instance, a person can have a 4000 square foot million dollar home, 2 kids, 2 fancy cars and a Porsche to show off, a great job, make millions of dollars etc. and still feel like they haven’t accomplished anything – while someone else can look at them and feel jealous over that person’s accomplishments. Why are the view points of the same situation so different?
The man who has all that stuff may feel proud about it, but their heart has a different weight on what’s important. They may really want to climb Mount Everest and until they do, they feel as if they haven’t accomplished anything and/or may not be a success to their standards… while other’s with half of what the rich man has sees what that person has as a great accomplishment.
They see it as a great accomplishment because they are comparing their situation to his and feeling like they failed or, they see what that man has and feel it’s a huge accomplishment and success.
Since I can remember I never considered worldly goods or money, success – because we can lose them all in one minute. Success and accomplishment is something nobody can take from you because it’s intangible.
Success doesn’t have to make you rich or famous to be successful.
Let me tell you a little story….
I entered a lot of judged art shows when I first started. In my heart I really wanted to win – as did everyone else that entered. The problem was I NEVER won.
The situation put me (a photographer) and my piece, up against someone who is a fine painter, a sculptor, a mixed media artist and a variety of other mediums in one judging pool. The judges weighted the mediums differently and they weren’t in categories.
In the end the fine artist (the painter) would almost always win because the judges felt that oil painting is far more complex than photography, sculptures, etc. You would have to make one amazing piece for it to compete against oil paints.
Over and over again I would lose and I realized that they were putting my work against other mediums and that was wrong. A painter doesn’t always have what it takes to take a great photo just as the photographer may not have the same skill to paint. The judges never weighed in the fact how difficult it is to compose a photo – just like it’s equally as hard to paint. It’s not just point and shoot – bam art – although there are a lot of those photographers out there.
So what I am saying in a nutshell is this…. you should NEVER compare your accomplishments to anyone else to see who is more successful. You must look at your accomplishments and be proud of them.
Tom Brady may be the greatest QB of all time. He’s a 4 time Super Bowl Champion (only 2 other QB’s can boast that) and he’s a multiple MVP of the Super Bowl and the league. I have my work shown in Epcot. Now to most Brady’s accomplishment’s sounds far better than mine, but I am NOT an athlete so therefore I can never achieve what Brady has. Vice versa he’s not a photographer so he can’t accomplish what I have. Because of this, what makes my accomplishment any less than Tom’s?
Another reason for this is one may have a BUNCH of help to achieve the same goal you have but you had nothing or no one to help you so you did it the hard way. Both of you accomplished the same goal but one coasted to it while you struggled. Which one is more accomplished or successful? BOTH because you both achieved what you wanted and consider a success – regardless how you both got there.
Success is important to each of us, but it’s up to us to determine where we put weight and merit on those achievements; we should never weight our achievement against someone else.
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