How does a man measure his success?
How does a man measure his success? Is it possessions? Investments, his savings? Where does the measure of a man's success begin? Where does it end? Who lowers or raises the bar for it? Is the man who is fully alive in his life the richest?
I just finished watching the Tyson Fury interview. It got me thinking about how personal success for men can be. Tyson Fury is great at something right now, the best in the world at boxing, and he proved it again, and it did not look easy. He turned pro at the age of 20. He had a plan to be a professional boxer, and I am sure long before then. Mostly what I admire about him and most men who achieve greatness is that they had a plan early and dared to follow it all the way through, which takes courage.
Courage is measured by a risk.
A man who is about his business but offers no insight, shares no knowledge or experiences with his brothers, is he rich? Or is the question, are those around him enriched by his mere presence?
Some men have experienced more pain, love, hate, vengeance, violence, tears and joy, and more laughs than all the movies ever made about either subject, but he doesn't even own a car or a home. Is this man poor?
A long while back, I had a thought that I could not escape. Money equals freedom, and I wrote it on a hundred-dollar bill. Doing some hand lettering on it, it read, "We do it for the freedom." At some point, my perception of money and wealth was not a good one. I knew everyone wanted more of it all the time. Being jobless and on unemployment doesn't inspire a lot of self-worth in men. Whatever men do, they must serve a purpose and bring value, or we are nothing at all. Being of no worth to anyone, even yourself, is a type of death for a man.
It is silly to say things like "money doesn't matter," it does matter, and it will. That being said, how much is enough, when is enough money ever enough money? That's from a Lil Wayne song.
Money isn't everything, but it is not nothing; of course, this can be said about many things and often is.
Defining a successful life on your terms is important, especially writing it down. You will be distracted by the glamor of some shiny new shit that you never wanted until you saw it. Go back to your definition, reread it, and it will keep your mind's eye focused on the plan you have.
If time is money and time is running out, you are losing time from the moment of your birth. If you are on a crunch for time because moments are disappearing from your life as tears do in the rain. Having a plan earlier in life keeps the distraction from completely taking you off your path. No target to aim at, then any target will do, which of course this doesn't do shit, has you chasing cars like one of those dumb dogs out in the country, they always get run over, poor pups. Anything that comes up across your path will seem like a good plan when you do not have one.
To sum it all up:
Success is personal, but it is defined as an achievement or attainment of the desired goal. Perhaps most don't write out what they want to be or do or have because now it is real and tangible and can be measured by how close or far you are from that target. Whatever you do, first know what you want, then make a plan, most importantly, be obsessed about it. If your goals are to own possessions and luxuries, I don't knock you; having nice things is nice. Goals can be experiences, being a Soldier or Marine, being a CEO, being a world champion, owning a successful company, being a leader in a community, being a mentor, or being a small business owner. Some goals start small, like filling your gas tank up entirely for the first time without worrying about an overdraft fee striking you, which is a damn good feeling.
Seek Knowledge & Grow Strong.