[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/algorithmforlife.com\/have-more\/success\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/algorithmforlife.com\/have-more\/success\/","headline":"Success","name":"Success","description":"What does success look like to you? Success is the […]","datePublished":"2023-02-06","dateModified":"2023-03-01","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/algorithmforlife.com\/author\/algorithmlife\/#Person","name":"algorithmlife","url":"https:\/\/algorithmforlife.com\/author\/algorithmlife\/","identifier":1,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7d9ce54bf7884db06c868d4c3d9f401d81cecc940d6403409642a6a34d06caa8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7d9ce54bf7884db06c868d4c3d9f401d81cecc940d6403409642a6a34d06caa8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Person","name":"Dave Burnett"},"url":"https:\/\/algorithmforlife.com\/have-more\/success\/","about":["Have More"],"wordCount":1450,"articleBody":"What does success look like to you?Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal.Success leaves clues.People remember their own failures, but everyone else’s successes.Suck and Success look the same until you’re half way through.Success leaves clues.Despite what people try to tell you, there are clues to success all around you.\u00a0 Take a close look at that rock star.\u00a0 That celebrity.\u00a0 That business mogul.\u00a0 That mother.\u00a0 That leader.\u00a0 They all had a unique path to success, but they all have a process you can follow.\u00a0 The tough part is identifying which success you want to go after, then pursuing it. In my life, I’ve taken the time to identify those people who I think of as successful, and copy them as closely as I can.\u00a0 There is nothing wrong with that, no shame in that.\u00a0 In fact, it’s one of the smartest things you can do.\u00a0 When I realized I had accomplished my only two life goals at 35 (owning a beautiful house and a cottage) I was lost.\u00a0 I was unmotivated, and didn’t know what to do.\u00a0 I spent years with my health spiraling down, and not knowing why I was getting out of bed in the morning. I realized that what I was doing looked like success, with my wonderful family, the awesome stuff I had, but it wasn’t really success.\u00a0 I was struggling, in my marriage, my business, and my self.\u00a0 So I started to look around at those who were ‘successful’ around me.\u00a0 I saw business success, people who were rich, but miserable.\u00a0 I saw spiritual success, but they were missing whole parts of family life.\u00a0 I saw people who had what I wanted, but I had no idea how to get there.\u00a0 So I decided to really look around and try to define what I wanted.\u00a0 I didn’t want success in one part of my life, only to be a resounding failure in others. For my life, Warren Rustand is the mentor I chose to emulate.\u00a0 If you don’t know who he is, he is an entrepreneur who has run or owned 27 businesses, he was a Rhodes scholar, drafted to the NBA, worked in the White House under President Ford, father of 7, married for 50+ years, an active community member who was also voted father of the year in Tuscon Arizona.\u00a0 He has a wealth of experience, but more than that, he is a success in all the areas that matter.\u00a0 He is successful in his personal life, his family life, his business life, and his community life.\u00a0 While I will never be him as his experience is unique and his own, his habits, his outlook, his mental state can all be learned. It was his guidance that got me on this path I’m currently on, and one of the reasons I’m sharing this with you.\u00a0 I have and will continue to face different challenges than he did, and I have a different set of tools to deal with those challenges.\u00a0 But if I learn how to approach things the way he does, I can apply his knowledge and process to solving my problems.\u00a0 That is one of the keys of success.\u00a0 Be careful how you define success because if the definition is to narrow, other parts of life will suffer for it. Let’s pause for a moment and consider how you define success.\u00a0 What is success?\u00a0 What does someone look like who is successful?\u00a0 Do they drive fancy cars?\u00a0 Do they vacation in Monaco?\u00a0 Is it monetary success you envision?\u00a0 What about that high-powered lawyer who has been divorced twice and has children who won’t talk to him?\u00a0 Is that success?\u00a0 He drives a Bentley and lives in the right part of town. What about the person who gives up everything and goes to work at a non-profit.\u00a0 They can hardly pay their bills, but they are excited about the work they do.\u00a0 If fulfills them.\u00a0 Is that success? The first thing you need to do is to define success for yourself.\u00a0 Now most people define it in relation to other people.\u00a0 Do they have more than me?\u00a0 Are they living the life I want to be living?\u00a0 They define it as accumulating more stuff, or having more money.\u00a0 That’s not how I define it.\u00a0 Success to me is the realization of your own potential, and the measure of my life’s success, at the end of the day, is how much love do I have?\u00a0 When I was growing up, there was a bumper sticker you used to see around that said ‘he who dies with the most toys wins’.\u00a0 I disagree.\u00a0 He who dies with the most love wins.\u00a0 That is the realization of a worthy goal.\u00a0 It’s not approval, or money, it’s love. Now it’s easy for me to say.\u00a0 I’ve got the nice car, house, cottage, stuff, and perhaps that is the first step.\u00a0 Getting those things.\u00a0 But what you’ll realize is more stuff doesn’t make you any happier, or more successful.\u00a0 Once you reach a baseline, you may find it hard to keep going.\u00a0 The secret here is to ask yourself, am I doing everything I can to be the best me?\u00a0 Or is there room to improve?\u00a0 How do I measure up to me?\u00a0 That is the one true measure you should use. One of the most interesting things about success is the self talk that comes with people’s successes, and failures.\u00a0 For some reason, people remember their own failures, but everyone else’s successes.\u00a0 I’m sure there is some genetic reason for this, and in the past our ancestors would get eaten by a lion if they didn’t remember failures. But in today’s world we are constantly reminded of other people’s successes.\u00a0 It’s everywhere around us in ads and social media.\u00a0 It’s what people choose to show to the world.\u00a0 The stories they share are the best of what they are experiencing.\u00a0 Being on the beach, out with friends, laughing.\u00a0\u00a0 The real question you should ask is how are they feeling, and what are they like when the camera is off.\u00a0 When no one is looking.\u00a0 Not what stories are they telling the world, what stories are they telling themselves.\u00a0 Do they have to be somewhere nice, and looking a certain way, and having a certain thing to be worthy?\u00a0 And if they aren’t there, or don’t have those things, what do they say to themselves? More importantly, what stories are you telling yourself?\u00a0 Are you OK with who, what, and where you are?\u00a0 Are you OK with the fact you’re on the journey, but may not have arrived yet?\u00a0 If you’re not, then change it.\u00a0 Change what you’re working on, change what you’re learning, and change your expectations.\u00a0 You will get there, you just may not be there yet.\u00a0 You are the sum of the stories you tell yourself.\u00a0 So tell yourself some good ones. I’ve also noticed over time is Suck and Success look the same until you’re half, to three quarters of the way through.\u00a0 It’s hard to keep going when you don’t know if whatever you’re doing, whatever you’re working on is going to work out or not. If you have thought things through, and there is evidence you will be successful following this path, you have to keep working at it.\u00a0 Stay on your chosen path, sometimes through thick and thin.\u00a0 There will be doubts, setbacks, challenges, and unforeseen obstacles you will face.\u00a0 This path you’ve chosen might be a risky one, but you can offset this risk by learning from others who have been there, have walked the path, and are on their way back.\u00a0 This is a huge part of what I’ve learned from Warren.\u00a0 People who’ve been there can tell you about their travels, and what to look out for on the road ahead.\u00a0 That doesn’t mean you won’t suck in the end, but it does mean the odds are better you’ll succeed. One final thing to consider about how you define success.\u00a0 There’s a great scene in the movie ‘Yesterday’ where the main character Jack Malik is talking to an elderly John Lennon as they walk on a beach.\u00a0 Jack asks John if he is happy.\u00a0 John says yes.\u00a0 Jack then asks John if he had a successful life.\u00a0 John stops, looks at him a bit strangely and says ‘I just told you I was happy.\u00a0 That is success!’"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Have More","item":"https:\/\/algorithmforlife.com\/have-more\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Success","item":"https:\/\/algorithmforlife.com\/have-more\/success\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]