Defining and Finding Success

 In this post I would like to discuss the concept of success and as you well know, success means different things to different people. Dictionary.com defines it as: The attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like. Why don't we take a look at this common definition? Many of us automatically connect success with the attainment of material possessions, position, honors, who we know or where we go.

Now, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with any of these things. However some believe that their attainment will make their lives successful, happier, more meaningful and productive. Let me ask you a question. How many of us have heard of people who have more money, houses, cars, titles, etc. than one can ever dream of, and still aren’t happy because they’re not living the lives they had envisioned for themselves? If you wish to know who they are just look in the tabloids, surf the Internet or simply watch the evening news.

Here's a thought for you. Wealth, position and material possessions are simply means to an end. They were created in order to help us attain our purpose for living. They should not be the goal itself. My point is that when we obtain things in a way that’s not connected with our purpose then these things seem hollow and do not bring us the good feeling that we’re looking for? For example Steven Jobs, the founder of Apple Computer, acquired vast sums of cash and material possessions in order to fulfill his vision of bringing people closer together through the use of technology. Money and material possessions weren’t his goal; they were his tools.

Since we’ve seen that success isn’t necessarily connected to material possessions, then what is it? I define success as gaining and attaining the desires of your heart. Each one of us has a function or purpose in life that only we can fulfill. It's our spiritual nature (mentor) that places these desires in our heart and makes certain they’re aligned with our highest and best good or purpose for living.

Are you aware of the many individuals who were successful even though they had very little cash or material possessions? Look at the lives of Five-Star General and U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower, Gandhi and Mother Theresa to name a few. The point I’m making is that success is nothing more than a value judgment. It’s true value exists only in the mind of the person making the judgment, including our own.

And finally, while I’m at it, allow me to share that you don’t have to be perfect to be successful. All of us have issues that we have to deal with. The good news is that we have our spiritual, intellectual and physical natures to signal us when we stray from our purpose. We just have to remain in the moment to be made aware of these signals.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post. Until next time here’s hoping you live today and everyday passionately and with purpose. Thank you and God bless.

Solving Life's Problems Using Our 3-Part Nature

In this post I will tie together the 3 aspects of our human nature, namely the spiritual, intellectual and physical. I’ve discussed our spiritual nature (inner voice) in previous posts. I’ve also discussed our intellect and stated that it houses our “free will”. If I had to assign roles to these natures, I would say the spiritual performs the role as “Mentor” and our intellect as “Coach”.

In the past, I likened our spiritual nature to a GPS, which unerringly provides us directions towards our destination. It doesn't matter where we’re located because it knows how to guide us safely to our chosen destination. And as you know a mentor is defined as a trusted counselor or guide. It's our spiritual nature or mentor that often guides us to a solution to those one-of-a-kind problems that are unsolvable by intellect alone.

My goal in this post is to provide a simplistic overview of how the different aspects of our nature interrelate as we experience life's tough times and problem areas. It’s not to tell you how to go about your normal day-to-day activities, which are usually placed on cruise control anyway. By that I mean, upon waking each day we normally use the restroom, cleanup, get something to eat and then complete our daily activities. At the end of each day we do what is necessary to prepare for the next, and so on. Our intellect handles this aspect of our life quite well.

When life’s tough times and problem areas occur, our intellect (consisting of our mind, will, desires and emotions) chooses a desired outcome. It then allows our GPS to issue directions and guide us towards our desired destination.

Additionally, our intellect (Coach) sends instructions to our physical body (which assumes the role of “Player”) that allow us to interact with other bodies and the material world. Our bodies do nothing more than wait on the sidelines for the coach to send in a play (“Gimme the ball coach, Gimme the ball”). It then uses its physical attributes to carry out that play to the best of its ability.

Our physical body is a complex, finite organism that has no volition of its own. It returns to the earth when our intellectual nature/life force no longer occupies it. It does however have the necessary intelligence to monitor its own operation and sends signals back to the coach when it detects an internal malfunction or breakdown. A simple analogy is that our body is like an automobile that’s useless until occupied by a driver (intellect/life force).

The take away from this post is that in order to successfully experience the tough times and problem areas of life in a manner that keeps us calm, confident, creative and connected to our guide, we must understand how to employ an integrated approach that involves our 3-part nature. This is accomplished when the “Mentor” provides guidance to the “Coach” who directs the activities of the “Player”.

I will provide more examples of how this works in my next post. Until then, here's hoping that you live today and every day passionately and with purpose. Thank you and God bless!