Do you think of success as having a million dollars, or living in a mansion, or having a fleet of 5 new Jaguars and 3 Porsches? Most people think that the definition of being successful is that they have more things than their neighbor does. We want to be able to not only "keep up with the Jones's" but to surpass them. We want to have enough money to be able to buy enough things for us to be able to prove to the world how special we are. We know that our society determines our value by how much stuff we have.
We live in a very materialistic society, and are constantly bombarded with advertising messages that tell us that in order for us to be successful or loved, we must buy this product or that product We have been trained to believe that in order to be more successful or more loved, we must buy more things, since what we hear all the time is what we start to believe in our subconscious minds. We begin to believe that we can not be happy unless we have this thing or that thing.
Many people think that when they start to make more money, they deserve to buy more things. They buy a bigger home and a fancier car. They eat out more often at finer restaurants. They wear expensive clothes and jewelry. They go on more exotic vacations. There is a problem with this idea. If your standard of living matches your current income, then you must keep on making the same amount of money; whether you want to or not. You are living paycheck to paycheck. You will have no reserve cash for the emergencies that will probably show up at some time.
You will be busier and busier; since the more things you own, the more things you have to take care of. You will have to insure, look after, keep clean, protect, and worry about all those things. You will become a slave to your possessions. Your "stuff" will create unnecessary demands on your time and energy. It is true that you may deserve a better standard of living; but do you not also deserve peace of mind? Which is more important to you?
We all can think of celebrities who had fame and fortune, and who we all wanted to be like; yet were miserable, perhaps even miserable enough to commit suicide. Did they achieve success? I do not think so. They were lacking a key ingredient. They were not happy.
People have been trained to think that they will be happy once they become successful. Life operates the other way around. Happiness is the cause of success, not the result. When you are happy, it is because you recognize that the world is an abundant place that is full of wonderful things. You know that God is looking after you and you are grateful that you already have everything you need. You are focused on what is good in your life, and because you get what you focus on, you will just receive more and more good things.
When you are happy, when you really understand and believe that the world is an abundant place, you will understand that abundance does not just occur in one area of your life. You can not have plenty of money yet have miserable relationships. You can not be hugely popular and yet be spiritually poor. Balance is very important. A truly happy person is happy about all areas of their lives. That is what makes them truly successful.
Author Resource:-
Tracy Crowe is the author of this article.
For more ideas about how to be truly successful, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
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