Success has many definitions.

To some people getting married is a success.  To others being single is a success.  To other people getting a million dollars makes them successful.  To some other people, helping others makes them a success.  To other people, traveling the world makes them a success.  To some people, losing weight makes them a success.

The beauty in all those above mentioned things is that success is all of them.

Success is defined differently by different people.

I can define my own success.

My success is going to look different from some peoples success.

My definition of success is being happy in the moment and achieving my goals while living a life that I love.

I once had an interviewer ask me my definition of success.  I was interviewing for a teaching job that taught CPR to healthcare workers.  I hadn’t been expecting that question.  I was scrambling in my head to come up with an answer.  At the time, I was having a hard time defining what success looked like.  I remember telling the interviewer that success was being happy.  Happiness doesn’t depend on how much money is in the bank, if you have a significant other, or a fast car.  As long as you are happy doing your job then you are a success.  I came up with that answer in under a minute.

I wish I had actually listened to myself.  At the time, I was still defining success as having a significant other or a husband.  Waiting on the knight in shining armor.  I don’t need a man to be happy or successful.  My future husband, will be adding to my happiness and success.

Success will manifest itself in different ways for every body.

One of the reasons that I love being a travel nurse, is that I can take a month off in between assignments.  After not taking a vacation for 7 years, I love being able to take time off.  The time off helps with my mental health.  It helps me to relax so I can choose my next assignment.  I don’t want to rush and pick an assignment that I’m not happy with.  I became a travel nurse so that I could go places that I want to go.  To some people, taking a month off means that you aren’t successful and that you are being lazy. That’s ok for them to have that opinion.  Every one can define success differently.

Some people love to work overtime.  They love their jobs and they don’t mind doing it.  I love being a nurse, but I don’t want to work overtime.  Three days a week is enough.  I need those four days off to recharge myself.  I used to work with a nurse that worked 6 and sometimes 7 days in a row.  It worked for that nurse.  I one time, worked 4 days straight and I was emotionally and physically exhausted at the end of the fourth day.

I’m living a life where I am successful on my own terms.

I lived 30 years of my life, trying to live my life by other peoples terms of success instead of my own.  I was never truly happy.  Happiness was fleeting and never sustainable.  Now that I’m living my life on my own terms, I feel successful.  I may not be where I want to be but I’m on my way.

What would you do differently if you lived your life by your own terms of success?