What does success sound like to you? What is your symphony of success?
Not what you’ve been told success is, nor what your parents say it is, nor what your teachers, friends, school, culture, or even the commercials on television define it to be. All those opinions are constructs of the desires and aspirations of other people. What they deem to be success does not and should not have a foothold on you.
Miyamoto Musashi once said, “there are many ways to the top of the mountain.” This is to say that there is no single path to getting to the top. There is no one way to success.
Just because society tells you that you have to follow a specific process does not mean they are right. In fact, most people are not even following their own path but, like sheep, they are following the path set before them by others.
So my question to you is, What is your symphony of success? When you say, “I want to live a successful life,” what does that tune sound like?
Most people live in a state of quiet desperation. They never once have sat down to think, “What do I want to do?” “Who do I want to become?” “What do I think it means to be successful?” Yet they walk through life asking others to define for them one of the most foundational questions that will determine the quality and future of their life.
These question you must answer as the equanimity of your soul depends on it.
The symphony of success is determined by the ear of the beholder. What may sound beautiful to you may not necessarily be appealing to others, and that’s okay. Who cares! They are not the ones who have to live your life or deal with the consequences of your decisions.
Your success is never determined by others, so why should your definition of what success is be determined by them? Do not allow them to corrupt your ears with what they believe to be the tune of success. You must find your own symphony.
How foolish would it be for a subject to listen to the likes of Bach, Mozart, or Beethoven and simply disdain their symphony and genius due to a lack of preference? If success is self-determined, then why should you limit yourself to the predetermined ideas or ideals of others?
