You don’t need a lot of money, have a corner office, be famous, live in a beautiful house, or possess a huge following to be successful. No—you just have to be loved.
I get that you can’t eat love: It doesn’t put food on the table. But, I bet that most of us aren’t starving and partake in three square meals a day, but we still don’t feel as successful as we want to feel.
Here’s the problem.
We believe what society (and social media) pumps into our minds through our eyeballs. Having glamorous homes, people, planes, stuff, lives is what we consider successful. “That’s real success,” we might think to ourselves, as we start to feel depressed. But is it? Is that really “making it”?
I don’t think so. When I make more money, I feel better—for a minute. Then I realize that I don’t make as much as so and so. When I get that bigger home, I realize that my friend has two amazing homes. When I started my company, I read about another person who started ten companies and five of them IPO’d. With each accomplishment, I somehow failed to feel accomplished. Maybe you can relate.
But—when I realize how loved I am, I float. No, actually, I fly, soar. I’m over the moon. No longer am I just some guy eating three square meals a day and still somehow feeling like a loser; I’m a husband, father, son, brother, cousin, friend, child of God. Relationships: They are the stuff of life. It’s living at its best.
If you want to succeed, love.
John Pa 