In today’s modern society, the concept of “success” has been defined and redefined in diverse ways in different contexts. Many people are obsessed with success and shrewd orators are making huge money teaching about the subject to people who are all too eager to enter the realm of success. Many catch phrases have been developed to capture the imagination of all who are hungry and thirsty for success. The begging question is; what exactly is success? What would make us term an individual as successful?

Listening to the modern chatter, you realize that to many, success is all about two things; money and power. These two are good but do they in themselves complete one’s success?

Money and power are good and they definitely cause certain doors to swing open since we human beings place higher value to those who have rather than those who have not. I, however, categorically believe that it’s time individuals and indeed society re-evaluated the definition of success. What are indeed the attributes of a successful person?

If money and power were everything, why aren’t the rich and the powerful truly and sincerely happy? Have we as society missed out on the true components of success? Why is there still a feeling of discontent and emptiness among the rich and the powerful? Why can’t families hold together even in the midst of abundance and overflowing luxury?

Clearly, the search for success should not end with acquisition of riches and power. You have to go beyond acquiring the two and think about the purpose the money and power should serve in the context of the purpose for your life as a human being. You were born to do more than own huge bank accounts, shower yourself with luxury and finally die only to be remembered for the staggering figure that appeared next to your name in the Forbes’ list of the world’s richest.

We must all begin to think about LEGACY and even teach our children about it. The search for money should not be about acquiring money for money’s sake but the money should be viewed as a necessary tool that should make us more effective human beings. Contrary to what we witness in today’s society where some individuals strike huge riches and they lose their humanness; become less approachable and more insensitive to humanity, money should improve our humanness. It should improve our capacity to serve humanity so that our impact is felt in a greater way during our life time.

The main focus therefore as we think of success should not be money but the effect of our lives on this planet. What were you born to fulfill and will you have done that by the time you depart from the earth? Will anyone have felt the effect of your being alive or will you be forgotten as soon as you depart, and if you’ll be remembered, what will you be remembered for? Will your existence have added value to this life? Will you have made your mark?

I hope these questions will make you realize that simply accumulating riches and spending it on yourself doesn’t make you successful. It makes you noticeable but far from being successful if all you’ll have done by the time you depart is serving yourself.

When you begin to think about legacy, you no longer take your life for granted. You’ll be careful how you live and how you affect the people around you. You’ll consider how your life serves them. With this in mind, even families are likely to gain stability and be happier as husbands, wives and parents pay greater attention to how they affect the lives of their family members instead of losing themselves to the search for money and power and simply acting like money machines in their families.

When money becomes a tool for life and not the ultimate goal, then as a human being you are more likely to become increasingly effective and better placed to serve the purpose for your life.

What legacy will you leave? When your life finally comes to a close WILL YOU REST IN PEACE having known you’ve done all you could do with your life to serve humanity?

To get in touch with the writer, send email to evah@evahnjauini.com