How Do You Measure Success?


Hi Reader,

What is it you want out of life?

Many of us have considered what we would do if we won the lottery.

While the acquisition of financial wealth alone is not a measure of success, money is unquestionably essential in life at this time.

And required to aid some of our aspirations.

But do you consider the progression of your spiritual path to be a measure of success?

A spiritual path relates to thoughts and beliefs, enabling personal growth and fostering a connection with something bigger than yourself, for example humanity, nature or the universe.

How you measure success in your life is likely heavily dependent on your culture and family influence.

Or you may have chosen to break from tradition and identify your own success strategy.

Either way, it is useful to check in with your goals and progression from time to time.

It’s easy to lose yourself on the road to success.

The following exercise may help you evaluate how you measure success and explore alignment with your path.

1. List the metrics you currently associate with success in life.

They may include:

  • Happiness
  • Providing a secure environment for your family
  • Obtaining a good home/ work life balance
  • Pursuing knowledge or honing skills
  • Achieving a certain status
  • Buying particular goods, products, luxuries, or freedoms
  • Being a good person, friend, neighbour

Be as specific as you can be, and be honest about which drive you most.

Which do you dedicate the most time and energy to?

2. Then, consider the people or events that have inspired you the most, fictional or not.

List as many as you can, from your childhood and adulthood, and consider why they inspire you.

There is a reason you feel so connected to these people or occurrences.

Is there a common theme?

3. Now, compare the two lists and see how they align.

Do your markers of success match the inspirational factors?

The people and events that inspire us, and the reasons that they inspire us, can tell us a great deal about what we want out of life.

Role models, idols or heroes are usually figures that motivate us by example.

And through their example we aspire to become more than we are.

Dedicating time and energy to the pursuit of success while ignoring our spiritual growth is counter productive.

Let your spiritual development be the driving force behind all you do.

It is the key to your success.

Focus on the light, always,

Natalie Attenborough

Focus on the Light

Read more from Focus on the Light
grayscale photo of man using magnifying glass

Hi Reader, I have recently learned a name for a concept that you may already be aware of. Shifting Baseline Syndrome The phrase was coined by the marine biologist Daniel Pauly and describes: A gradual change in the accepted norms for the condition of the natural environment. Successive generations of children and adults are simply unaware of past conditions, and so they accept what they know as the norm. For example, I remember needing to wash the dead insects off my car windscreen daily due...

person in red and black long sleeve shirt holding white round ball

Hi Reader, A very good friend of mine works in the education sector. She is perfectly suited to the work as she is extremely wise and patient. They are both traits I have associated with her since I first met her, and she embodied them even then, during our misspent youth! One of the wisdoms she shares with her students is that you can’t control what happens to you, but you can control how you react to it. I have always loved that counsel. It is attributed to the renowned Stoic, Epictetus....

Sunlight shines through a beautiful tree.

Hi Reader, For my main occupation I am an arborist. It’s my job to arrange for the inspection of trees in order to manage them appropriately. Trees are remarkable, self optimising structures. A direct product of their genetics and environmental stimulus. And when left to their own devices, can live for tens, hundreds and thousands of years without issue, supporting literally thousands of other life forms on one individual tree. When we plant or encompass trees in urban settings, conflicts...