How do you see your success?

May 15, 2025
9:20 AM

Early in my learning, my mentor taught me that thinkers govern doers. Therefore, if I wanted to be the leader of my own life, I had to learn to think for myself. He mentioned all man-made inventions began as a thought: the food we eat, the buildings we live in, and the clothes we wear. They all started as half-formulated ideas in someone's mind that they had to design, build, and refine.

In the same way, if there was ever any hope for me living a better life and becoming a better person, it had to be carefully designed in my mind first. The best way to predict the future was to create it. I would face the future with apprehension or anticipation based on the clarity of my vision for it. He taught me never to start my years, months, and days until I lived them in my mind first. He challenged me to set a new standard for how proactively I lived my life.

When he told me, I got serious with myself and began to visualize and plan what I genuinely wanted to create with my life, from memorable moments to lifelong goals. I did my best to set a measurable target for every aspect of my life, ranging from spiritual growth to my relationships with my emotions. Yet, after seven pages of writing, I couldn't help but feel there was still something missing. The goals almost didn’t feel like my own.

Over the next few years, I slowly realized that my life turned from an exciting adventure into an obligatory checklist. Changing the plan meant quitting, and I quickly felt trapped by the plans made by my younger self. Things were always changing, and planning all my goals made little room to adapt to it all. Eventually, my list of goals lost meaning and urgency, and I threw it all out. I got a new sheet of paper and wrote my goals again.

It occurred then that life seemed more like a book to be written than an objective to be completed. It felt more natural to outline the chapters of the story I wanted to live rather than list the goals I wanted to achieve. It made sense for me to identify the things I wanted to accomplish and experience in each chapter that I might not be able to later in life. It gave me an understanding of how I had to develop my character and the timeframe in which I had to accomplish specific goals.

When you set out to discover what success is for you, know that you aren't limited to a list of goals. Take the time to discover what you want to write in each chapter of your story and how you want those chapters to progress throughout your life. Goal setting isn't just about getting through the story as quickly as possible, but knowing how you want each part of your story to read and fit into the journey at the end when it's finished.

6:30 PM
Chris X