The Illusion of Success

There are many ways for people to define success and this is going to depend on many factors. To some people, success is to put food on the table every day. To others, success is to be able to get a promotion at work, and perhaps to a few, it is to simply be able to have a job at all.

There is no question that life can be very difficult and challenging to many of us. The recent events have been devastating in terms of the economy and millions of people have lost their jobs. This certainly makes it harder for people to see beyond the basics of survival and to set their sights on their true purpose.

Now that we are finally getting back to normal, people are going back to work and they are able to regain some of that control that they felt they had before. Some people are working hard to reach new positions and to climb the corporate ladder and they are seeing success in that sense, but for some reason, they feel empty and unaccomplished.

The illusion of success is a very common phenomenon

When people start to reach higher positions within a business and they earn more money each month, they get a quick sense of accomplishment and they feel motivated to keep going. Eventually, they start to feel like their accomplishments don’t seem to make them happy or motivated either.

This is the phenomenon that is often called “the illusion of success” and the reason why this happens is due to how people confuse financial accomplishments with their purpose. See, the biggest mistake is to even think that money is a purpose because money is only a consequence of the journey.

Money is never the journey

The main reason why many “successful” people start feeling lost and unhappy is because they focused their efforts on money being their goal. Their entire journey was focused on this particular purpose.

The problem is that those who make money their purpose, are more likely to feel lost, disconnected, unhappy and unable to get a sense of accomplishment. The only way to break out of this type of situation is to be able to regain your focus and find your true purpose.

Never forget that money is just a piece of paper that is given value for you to buy material things. Your true love and passion in life is not to buy possessions. Your true passion is in what makes you feel happy, accomplished, and engaged.

A person that loves their job is a person that has found their purpose

How many people do you know that are doing what they wanted to do with their lives? Many of us would have a hard time finding a good example in our close circle of friends and family.

The reason why this happens is that people get themselves cornered by fear of what people will say and fear of failure. It is much easier to simply follow the “safe” road of looking for a job that pays well and is relatively safe to keep. That illusion of a safety net is often quite a problem that makes people fall into a dangerous comfort zone.

It’s funny to combine the word comfort and danger because they seem to be so far away from each other in most situations. The comfort zone is probably the most dangerous place in the world for anyone who wants to be happy and truly successful in life.

The advantages of finding your true purpose include:

• Enjoying every day of work
• Feeling relaxed and stress free
• Enjoying better relationships with others
• Feeling accomplished
• Not being focused on financial gain

Enjoying every day of work

Very few people can say that they truly enjoy what they do in life and most people don’t like their jobs. They comment about how terrible it is that Monday morning is dreadful, they can’t wait for the weekends to start, and they are constantly daydreaming about another line of work.

When you have a job that allows you to exercise your true purpose, you start to notice that you wake up feeling enthusiastic about a new day of work. This is a feeling that very few people get to experience in life.

Feeling relaxed and stress free

We are not saying that a job that you feel passionate about does not come with challenges, but the truth is that you will be able to handle those challenges gracefully and with a good attitude if you love what you do.

Stress and anxiety are usually part of a job only when the person is constantly unhappy and unable to find a rhythm at work. This can easily be avoided if you have a job that makes you happy.

Enjoying better relationships with others

When we say others, this is a perfect way to define this because it means your relationships with everyone around you will be better. This is a direct consequence of avoiding the stress and the lack of motivation of a job you don’t enjoy.

Feeling accomplished

When you make a good amount of money doing something you don’t love, you feel good about the money, but you do not feel accomplished. When you do something you love and something that feels purposeful, you get that feeling of accomplishment.

Not being focused on financial gain

It may be hard to believe this, but sometimes when you stop chasing money, it starts coming your way by boatloads. The reason is that you are working with your focus on the experience and not on the paycheck.

Final thought

If you feel like you are currently stuck with the illusion of success, you need to take your time and evaluate what you could be doing to start looking for a way out of your job and going into one that makes you feel passionate and purposeful.

Never forget that your job can and should be an experience you can enjoy!