When I was growing up, it was a whole different meaning of success. You would graduate from high school, go to college, earn your degree, get a job, work your way up the company latter  to get to that office with all the windows and be there for 30 something years until it is time to retire. You also had a big house, nice family, married with children and purchased a boat during retirement. This is what I saw on T.V. a lot and thought I had to follow this path. This is not the case today.

Now people are not working for traditional companies anymore and becoming entrepreneurs. You are not staying at one job for many years, you are kind of hoping around until you can find a company you love or you have a side hustle that you dream of making full time. Everyone doesn’t go to college or earn degrees, we don’t need the big house and fancy cars, we just want that success of pursuing our dreams. We just want to be able to make it and be happy with what we do everyday.

I thought I knew what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, I had it all planned out. I was going to own a business, a hair salon to be specific and have the big house, cars, husband, kids and so on. I quickly realized that life after college was not easy. I had to find a job quickly and it was not in my field. I slowly started to forget about my business aspirations and had to figure out life. I was trying to chase that “success” and often thought I was not successful at all. I didn’t have that office, the house or luxury car but I was successful in my own way. I made it through college, I am pursuing my passion on the side and  married with a wonderful child. I have a car that gets me from point A to point B (and it was expensive to me lol) and I am happy with my life. There are those moments were I start to doubt myself and wonder if I had applied for internships after college, where would I be now or if I pursued my original career path, would it have been successful?

There is a new definition of success and you make it your own. You don’t have to follow those old school rules and don’t feel discouraged if it doesn’t seem like you have it all. If you are meeting and exceeding your goals, you are making a way and making things happen, you are successful. If you have a roof over your head, food to eat, transportation to get around, you are successful. If you are working full time and pursuing your side hustle to make that you full time job and it coming along and you are close to making it your full time job,  you are successful.

What is your definition of success?