Defining Success

We planted a butterfly garden in January and are now getting five different types, but the family favorite is still the Monarch. Shot with a Lumix FZ300 f4 @ 1/500 ISO 100

Yesterday I caught up to good pal Matthew Jordan Smith at his workshop in Orlando. We've been friends for a whole lot of years, meeting in my early WPPI days. He's currently on the road with eight cities left to his almost two month tour.

During one segment of his hands-on workshop he was talking with the class about how you define success. Everyone has a their own definition, but the point he made was how important it is for you to be living your dream and not somebody else's.

I always go a little off track from business and marketing on Sunday mornings, so here's my point. Have you taken the time to think through your definition of success? I'm not talking about how you view other people, but the face looking back at you in the mirror. There is no right or wrong definition, but as you get older you'll notice it changes. It took me a long time to understand that happiness was the key to success.

A few years ago I did a podcast with Sandy Puc. She was very open about her revised definition of success and it wasn't about building her business, but about being happy. It's an incredible podcast and worth listening to, if you haven't heard it before.

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success.
If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.
Albert Schweitzer

Wishing everybody a wonderful Sunday. Don't forget to hit those eleven-second hugs with somebody special in your life. Make it a day of appreciating happiness, and if you're not happy then take the time to step back and figure out what's missing.

Happy Sunday!