Isn’t success making a lot of money? Isn’t that the common presumption?
Success may or may not be accompanied by making a lot of money. To those who are successful, it doesn’t really matter that much. Have we ever realized that when we were completely and totally satisfied and happy with our successes, how much money we made was almost irrelevant? We need enough to pay our bills and provide for a reasonable standard of living for ourselves. But there isn’t that need to make a lot of money, which is actually compensation for lack of success.
If making a lot of money is what motivates us, then we don’t have the key to success. Money is really a substitute for the satisfaction that truly successful people get out of every job or operation that has gone well for them. Many of my greatest and happiest successes actually brought me no financial profit at all. When success is something within, it doesn’t require anything “out there.”
…In true success there is no time delay. The reward is instantaneous, so that the entire process is a rewarding one. Success is feeling good about what we do. We know those feelings of peace and contentment when we go to bed having completed a project where we know we did our best. Nothing has actually even happened “out there.” The boss hasn’t gotten the report yet. The family hasn’t seen what we’ve done. The neighbors haven’t found out. Yet, like having a garden well planted, when we go to bed at night, we know it’s just a matter of time before the flowers and vegetables emerge. The garden is automatic once it’s been suitably planted. Watching it grow is merely in addition to the satisfaction; it is not its source.
Success is for You: Ch. 6, pg. 73 and pg. 81