What If Success Looks Nothing Like You Thought It Would?

 

For most of my life, I had a pretty good idea of what I thought success was supposed to look like. 

You worked hard. You reached your goals. You made more money. You built something people noticed. You checked things off your list and eventually arrived at that place where you could look around and say, I made it.

But the older I get, the more I wonder if we've been looking at success all wrong.

Because what if success doesn't always look impressive from the outside?

What if sometimes success is quiet?

The Version of Success We Were Taught

Somewhere along the way, we were taught to measure our lives by the things that are easy to see.

A good job.

A beautiful house.

A certain amount of money in the bank.

A successful business.

A list of accomplishments.

How many followers we have on social media.

And there is nothing wrong with wanting those things.

But sometimes we get so focused on reaching them that we forget to notice everything we've already accomplished.

We don't count the mornings we get up exhausted and still show up.

We don't count the years we spent raising our children. 

We don't count the meals cooked, the messes cleaned, the problems solved, the people we've encouraged, or the difficult seasons we somehow made it through.

We don't count the dreams we kept alive even when life got busy. 

Those things don't always come with trophies. 

But maybe they should.

Maybe You're Further Along Than You Think

I've been about this lately.

Sometimes I'll look at something I'm working on and wonder if it's actually going anywhere.

Maybe the numbers aren't where I want them to be.

Maybe the response isn't what I hoped it would be.

Maybe something I poured my heart into doesn't immediately produce the results I imagined.

And it's so easy to look at that and think, I'm not getting anywhere.

But then I have to remind myself:

Getting somewhere doesn't always happen quickly. 

Sometimes you're building something before anyone else can see it.

A seed doesn't look like a tree. 

A beginning doesn't look like an accomplishment.

Success Can Be Small

Maybe success is finally having the courage to try something you've been thinking about for years.

Maybe it's creating something, learning something new, spending more time with your children, or simply making it through a difficult season stronger than you were before.

We often think success has to be big enough for other people to notice. 

But what if it only needs to be meaningful to you?

I Don't Think I'm Done Yet

That's what I'm learning.

Wanting more doesn't mean I'm unhappy with what I have. Having dreams doesn't mean I'm ungrateful. And moving slowly doesn't mean I'm standing still.

Maybe success isn't a finishing line. Maybe it's simply choosing to keep going, even when nobody else can see the progress yet.

So, if you're in a season where you feel like you're getting nowhere, give yourself some grace.

Look at what you've survived. Look at what you've built. Look at who you've become. 

Maybe your life doesn't look like the way you imagined. That's okay.

Sometimes success looks nothing like we thought it would.

But sometimes success is in the life we are already living.

I'd love to know what success looks like for you? Has your definition of success changed as you have gotten older? Please, tell me in the comments below.