What is Success in a Material World?

We live in a material world, people are often judged by how much money they have, what car they drive, how expensive their watch is, what their house is and so on. In fact, it is the basis if much of modern society, where simply being rich is enough to make you famous and celebrated. It even gives you a louder voice in terms of national and international problems, as if wealth makes someone’s opinion more valuable too.

We often take this for granted without thinking too much about it, but when we take a step back and look, we all know that is wrong. Not many people really think that someone with more money is a better person, and I doubt very many people stop and think ‘No, they have more money than me, so their opinion should matter more’, or that because someone can afford an expensive car, that is really a demonstration of their worth as a human being.

So, with an unhealthy focus on using money and material wealth to judge people, how can you identify success without falling into that exact same trap? If we remove financial status from the equation, what is a success anyway? Many people struggle to define success in terms of anything but material goods, but there are other ways to look at success.

Some people will tell you that success is 50 years of happy marriage, healthy children and grand children and so on. Other people may think of success in terms of money, and others may see success as reaching their career goals, but whatever the measure of success, there is actually one word that describes the state those people think of as success. That word is contentment.

When someone is content, they are happy with where they are and what they are doing and have done, and when you think about it, is there a better way to define success? If having a certain amount of wealth makes someone content, then that is success, but that doesn’t mean money is success, because there are many, many rich people who are very far from content, and this is the crucial thing about success.

Success is not about things, it is about you. Success is an individual thing, what you want to achieve will be different to anyone else, and when you get there, your idea of success will be yours alone. What allows you to sit back and feel content with your life, that is what will give you success. So, when you think about success, don’t fall into the trap of thinking it means setting out a list of ‘things’ you want to own or have in your life. Instead, think about what will make you truly content, and whatever that is, that is your success goal.

If you find setting your goals a challenge or need help with any of your aspirations, here at A Beautiful Thing we would love a chance to help. Feel free to get in touch, we are always honoured to provide advice and guidance to all the wonderful members of this community.