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Success isn't all about money, it's about your state of mind

Society has fooled most of us to measure success by large corner offices, hefty bank accounts and exotic vacations.

Success is a feeling. Yes it is! And it feels really good in different ways for every single one of us. For some of us success feels good with the simple luxury of not having to work in an office again for the rest of our lives, for others it is seeing your company go public after years of focused hard work and yet for others it is finally mastering the perfect soufflé.
Feelings come from triggers we send to our brains so it goes without saying that success is a state of mind, as it triggers certain feelings of joy and happiness.
Yes, success is very closely tied to our feelings of happiness, contribution, improvement and overcoming. Notice I did not say financial wealth! Even though there is a study from Princeton University's that shows that if you make approximately $75,000 annually you are happier than a person with lower income. However, the study also shows that if you make significantly more than $75,000 a year you do not "feel" any happier, that is more money does not make you feel more successful.
Society has fooled most of us to measure success by large corner offices, hefty bank accounts and exotic vacations. And while some of us feel good with loads of money in our bank account, it is not the financial wealth in itself that makes us successful but the feeling of affluence that accompanies it. And that feeling of affluence can come in different forms such as treating yourself to a massage or having a meal at the hottest restaurant in town.
The feeling of success is truly different for everyone. And you know the feeling! It is the good kind of butterflies in your stomach or the inside smile that explodes your heart when you know you overcame adversity, you made a difference, you worked really hard and it paid off and/or you are truly appreciated and loved.
Because many of us look around at others and allow them to define our success, understanding what success means to you requires some work. Here are a few tips how to tap into your success consciousness:
1-Try and recall any past times you felt really good about yourself and something you did and/or achieved. What did those feeling feel like? What was it that triggered those feelings?  An excellent example of this in use was with athlete Michael Jordan who whenever he had to take an important shot would on cue access his success memories of all the times he made a slam dunk.
2-Now try and imagine very clearly your future re-creating those same feelings. What would cause you to feel this way again? Now imagine vividly doing that thing and accessing these feelings. We attract what we think, so visualisation is a great tool to bring into your life what you want.
3-Now ask yourself if there are any other feelings you know will make you feel good and want to bring into your life. What would you have to do to bring these feeling into your life? Dream of scenarios and play them over and over in your mind. A clear successful intention helps to clarify and remove obstacles that allow you to access your success flow.
American educator and author Steven Covey has rightly said, "If you carefully consider what you want to be said of you in the funeral, you will find your definition of success."
Taking the lead from Steven Covey and his definition of success, let us do an exercise on what would be said in a tribute to your life 100 years from now.
Here are some suggestions to help you develop the tribute that would be presented about your life:
>Tell a story of how you lived your values in your everyday life and work.
>Talk about emotional connections you created and who still continue to cry and miss you.
>Define the most significant successes of your lifetime
>What lessons can we learn from your life?
>How did you serve during your lifetime?
>What did your business do beside make money?
>How did you make the world a better place while you were here?
As for me, my most successful moments so far have been from teaching and having young students come up after class and ask me to autograph their books, clothing etc. It was also when I published my first book Who Will I Become and saw it in my favourite bookstore. To this day, I get random notes from strangers who I inspire and dare because when I fail, I get up each time and dare again like it's nobody's business.
Sallyann Della Casa delivers 21st century skills through her edu-tech APP, GLEAC