Have you ever set an ambitious goal, and when you achieve it, instead of celebrating, you delay it to an imaginary future with a bigger goal?
And then you wonder:
When will I be truly successful?
What if we will never be successful—unless we choose to feel it? And what if once we decide to feel successful, we don't need to wait for it to come someday in the future, but rather, we get to experience it right now?
Instead of chasing after success, truly successful people manage their mental states differently. Instead of being successful when they arrive at an imaginary destination, they feel successful right here, right now, and from moment to moment.
Success begets success. Feeling successful now makes you more likely to succeed in the future. If you can feel successful right now, why wait?
1. Know where you are going
The first step is to have a vision of what success looks like for you. A vision gives you the direction for moving forward. Truly successful people have a vivid vision and clear goals.
It's okay for your vision to change from time to time. What is more important is to make it vividly clear. Being absolutely clear is a magical experience.
Clarity drives motivation, and motivation drives action. Your action will, in turn, brings more clarity.
2. Know where you are right now
Second, successful people are self-aware. Not only do you want to be clear about where you want to go, but you also want to be clear about where you are right now.
Rather than where you are in a physical location (it matters sometimes), it's about where you are in terms of your resources, skills, and connections. Self-awareness helps you better assess risks, seize opportunities, and be more confident in what you're good at.
3. Be content with what you have
One of the essential keys to feeling successful is to be content. Instead of complaining and wishing things to be different, successful people know that the current circumstances are set in stone and outside their control.
It's much more productive to be grateful for what you've got and utilize them to move toward your vision. Furthermore, being grateful also removes lots of the unnecessary negativity that hinders you from feeling successful.
4. Stay hopeful about the future
People can feel successful only when they are hopeful.
Regardless of what you do, whether it's growing a business, climbing the career ladder, or raising a family, there will be setbacks and obstacles.
To weather through the storms—big or small—you need to be hopeful about the future. In other words, you believe things will eventually work out fine.
It's crucial because it makes what you do now matter and gives you a reason to keep moving forward.
5. Love what you do—whatever it is
And lastly, truly successful people love what they do. You can either get yourself into work that you are passionate about or learn to enjoy your current work.
Not only do you want to love the fun part of your work, but you should also enjoy the boring, challenging, and painful parts. They are all part of the process that makes the journey whole.
A brilliant strategy is to get really good at the work you do. The better you get, the more you will love the work. And the more you love the work, the better you will get.
There you go the five tips to feel successful in the moment.
Ultimately, success isn’t a destination, it’s an act. To quote Phil Jackson, an American former basketball coach:
You are only a success at the moment you perform a successful act. You have to do it again.
