The Trail of Success
By: Paul Yeghouchian
Tags: Lifehacks, Personal Development, Personal Growth, Well Being Of Daily Life, Lifehacker

Photo by Tim Foster on Unsplash

There’s a trail which runs along a winding ravine behind my house. I feel fortunate that literally within seconds, I’m able to be fully immersed in nature. It’s often noted that spending time in nature is good for your mental health. I can vouch for this. It’s such a simple yet powerful habit.

I found myself on this trail the other day, walking its winding path through the barren ravine. Something profound happened earlier that afternoon and I needed a walk to process it. As I walked, I questioned the idea of success. I asked myself how I judge my success, what success looks like to me, and what success I want to have.

When you work in a typical job, success is outlined for you. It’s given to you in the job description, a performance report or meeting. But what happens when the success you have been asked to achieve doesn’t match your own internal notion of success? Chances are you are in the wrong job. Sure you may do your job because you have to in order to survive, but there is an internal longing for something more that falls outside of your 9 to 5. This is why people start side hustles and passion projects because their notion of success can only be defined by them and not by anyone else. Entrepreneurs are born this way, leaders are born this way, and dare I say it, “influencers” are born this way.

Photo by Kelli Stirrett on Unsplash

When you are a kid, success is road mapped for almost your entire life. School + Job +Marriage + Kids + Retirement + Grandkids. This sounds great in theory but not everyone wants to hit all of these milestones.

I don’t pretend that I am unique. Everyone’s success is unique to them. It’s like asking a group of people what’s your dream? Every answer will be different.

The gap between dreams and achieving them is big. I think many people quit on their dreams because in their heads, it was easy to accomplish. The minute things get difficult, they don’t know how to overcome the hardship as they weren’t mentally prepared for them.

The past 5 years have been a roller coaster for me in terms of direction. Yet underneath all the turbulence, I knew what I wanted. I was just afraid to go after it so I settled for working for other people’s dreams. I have found myself in random jobs over these past few years yet they all had the same lack of disinterest. There is a saying “Write Your Own Script or The World Will Write One for You.” You choose.

People get comfortable in a job because it’s easier than chasing a dream. The thing with dreams is that it’s not a job description. Nobody will hold you accountable but yourself. Duties aren’t laid out in a nice bullet point list. Dreams are messy, complicated, and hard.

The first few weeks of this new year has made me realize that the only way I was going to be happy was to achieve my own success on my own terms.

You need to ask yourself what are you willing to work for, risk for, and ultimately believe in to achieve a level of happiness that is defined by you.

I’m an optimist however. I believe things happen for a reason. People come and go in your life for a reason, a lesson, a message. It’s important to understand when these events transpire because if you are closed off to the world, they may pass by you unnoticed.

This is why being in nature is so good for you. It helps you focus and pay attention. I pay attention to the frozen branches as they blow in the wind, their leaves long fallen off. The leaves will return in the spring. Rebirth. Rejuvenation. Anew.

As I keep walking, this day is sort of my rebirth, a sense of direction and affirmation for me. I know the trail is long, winding, and filled with obstacles. But I can’t look back now. I have come too far to look back. I need to look forward.

I just need to keep walking my trail of success.