Be proud of your success and achievements. Now let’s get you to happiness!
We used to live in a world where there was so much pressure to ‘succeed’. In many respects we still do. But we’re also simultaneously living in an age that shames people who are succeeded. There’s an assumption that those people had it easy when quite often they ‘pulled themselves up by their bootstraps’ - a concept which has sadly gone out of fashion today. For many people who have achieved great things there was a point where they recognised they had two choices - give up and settle or move mountains to make what they wanted a reality. And they chose the latter. So if that’s you please know there are those of us of younger generations (I’m a millennial if that counts) who recognise not just your achievements but your courage to do what nobody else around you was doing, your tenacity in going after what seemed totally impossible and your refusal to give in regardless of the odds you faced.
Success can make our lives easier, more comfortable. And it can be used to take care of not just ourselves but our families who might be stuck or in much worse circumstances without our help. But there is another definition of success and it’s happiness - a life you want to wake up to every morning.
As someone who started my own spiritual journey years ago which guided me down avenues I never would have expected to me in my future when I was younger with my life all mapped out - I believe in happiness first. Joy helps us achieve our goals and get to where we want to be. But for so many people (probably you included) that path to success came from drive. Willpower (which I would argue is spiritual in nature as you focused with all your being on what you wanted to achieve!) So for you happiness comes after. And that’s okay!
You channelled your energy into what you wanted to achieve. But now it’s time to refocus on yourself, on what you want from your life. Not what you’re supposed to want, not setting higher milestones for the sake of it but a way of living that brings you a peace and happiness that is beyond quantifiable value.
Shoshi Winstanley-Brown | The Immersive Spiritual Mindset Coach