You’ve been flooded with success stories and images but you missed the drop of truth in the wave fof information!
From your close friends, to your family, to your old school mates, everyone is on a race to become successful. Probably you are, too. But where does this race end?
What’s the definition of success?
This is something that is varies extremely from one person to another. It’s a subjective visualisation, a finish line with a green screen that everyone fills with their expectations.
However, social media, podcasts, youtube videos, TV shows, Movies, bombarded us with so many examples of success, that now everyone shares common traits in the painting of their finish lines.
The common traits you’ve been told of being successful and fulfilled
I am sure you’ve all seen The Wolf of Wall Street, Suits or any other modern depiction of successful people.
Here is a list of the things you are presented as proof for the success and fulfilment of those people:
- Expensive Houses
- Expensive Cars
- Multi-Billion evaluation companies
- House staff
- Extensive travel
- Private jets
- Yachts
I am sure if we all chip into this list, and I am asking 100 people to describe success in a list, it will boil down to some of these.
And nothing here is wrong, unless you are doing it for the status game.
Let me break the list down into more details:
- Expensive Houses -> lots of taxes, maintaining it which generates lots of phone calls and time lost, working on it, redecorating
- Expensive Cars -> losing value, showing your status to the world, the need to keep up with new releases and new status simbols
- Multi-Billion dolar companies -> you end up ditching the 9 to 5 schedule but getting into a 24/7 one
- House staff -> paying wages, keeping balance between having them around and not keeping them from their life and families
- Extensive travel -> hard to establish a routine, time lost in transit
- Private Jets -> expensive to fly, not so easy to get from here to there as you might expect, high maintenance
- yachts -> expensive to charter, dependent on the weather, high maintenance
I’m still not saying this is wrong. They all have massive benefits that outnumber the disadvantages mentioned.
However, if you take a look at the disadvantages, you will see that all are centred around one idea — losing freedom
The new and real definition of being successful
To keep the same example, I will breakdown the list again into what was the initial purpose of each of them, from a freedom point of view, and how they appeared associated with success in this world:
- Expensive Houses -> freedom of space, freedom of practicing sports or hobbies from your own confort, freedom of keeping all your family close
- Expensive Cars -> freedom of buying whatever you want, freedom of comfort when travelling
- Multi-Billion dolar companies -> freedom of not having a boss, freedom of taking your own decisions, freedom of having no schedule
- House staff -> freedom of spending your time however you want and delegating chores
- Extensive travel -> freedom of space, of learning and discovering new places without feeling guilty or limited by time
- Private Jets -> freedom of traveling whenever you want, wherever you want (almost).
- yachts -> freedom of being on the sea, of having your own exotic travel destination
All of these started as a way of manifesting freedom. The price we pay, and the moment they stop offering freedom and start taking a way from it, is when we don’t keep a balance.
The new age definition of being successful is much more related to how you feel rather than what you have
So let me present you the new traits of successful people:
1. Freedom of time
Waking up whenever you want, plan your day however you want, schedule work when you want not when you need to, answer your phone whenever you want, spend time with family whenever you want and whenever they need.
A lawyer that’s making 1 milion a year but needs to be in the office early morning, then meeting clients in the evening and answering calls whenever the phone rings, doesn’t have the freedom of time.
A CEO that needs to be in the office or online from early morning towards the end of the day, in order for the things to go fine, doesn’t have the freedom of time.
Are you really successful if you can’t make your kid’s graduation, or don’t find time for your health during the day?
2. Freedom of space
This means being able to do the work you have to do, from anywhere. Work from anywhere in the world, when it’s convenient, not being forced to be in the same room with a client, or your colleagues or your employees.
Being able to be at the gym in the middle of the day when it’s free, being able to go shopping in the morning when the crowd is not there, being able to go to travel destinations around the world when the weather is best, not when you have time.
3. Freedom of trust
How many CEOs or business owners do you know, that need to be there for the place to run smoothly? I know a lot.
This freedom of trust is the ability to disconnect from the company, from communication, from our day to day lives, without being impacted financially or in any other way.
Is the freedom to be able to sleep late, do a spontaneous trip or close your phone for the day, and the people are trained to perform in the same manner.
Of course, there are exceptions when we are taking care of family that needs us, when we need to make a decision. But when talking about your business or your job, as long as you have time 1–3 times a week to disconnect completely for one or more days, you are successful.
4. Freedom of focusing on you and your health
The country clubs and health clubs around the world have gained traction due to the wealthy professionals or business owners that neglected their health, in favour of the business.
Is the business owner that eats takeaway twice a day and drinks 5 coffees really successful, even as a billionaire?
Is the lawyer, who sleeps 4–5 hours a night, but drives a bentley really successful?
Is a few hours on a Sunday, and a few 3 day trips going to compensate for 100 sleepless nights and 16 hour work days?
Is working 90+ hours a week in investment banking for a role, a bonus, a promotion worth it, when your health declines and they might fire you next year when you’re performance will drop due to your health issues cause by your dedication to their company?
This is the definition of the new successful person:
- wakes up whenever they want, wherever they want in the world
- runs a company in an asynchronous way
- spends time with family whenever they want, how much they want and how much is necessary
- doesn’t miss important life events
- works out or takes care of their health every day
- finds downtime and time to relax every day
- sleeps at least 8 hours a night 90% of the time
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