My post yesterday, The Secret to Success is Not Working Hard had several comments on my facebook page that got me thinking.   In particular was from Julio who said:

Well, in my opinion, the secret is defining success. Success is not only measured by the monetary return one obtains. Success can and should be measured by other means, such as personal health, happiness, family time, etc.

I couldn’t agree more!  I think each person has to define what success means to them.  Indeed it should not only be measured by monetary returns.  In fact that is only one area that I believe each person should evaluate for success.   Other than financial here are six others; career, health, spiritual, emotional, time, and relationships.

For me there is no substitute for time.  Whether your trying to achieve success in your career, with your relationships or emotionally you have to spend the time to do it.  So when I say the the secret to success in not working hard, its working harder.  I mean no matter which aspect of your life your working on there will never be a substitute for putting in more effort, working harder at it.  Not where you want to be with your health? Work harder at it. Your relationships with family aren’t what they used to be? Work harder at it. You’ve neglected your spiritual development? Work harder at it.  In the end I think all things in our life can be achieved if we work harder at it.

My good friend Kesh also reminded me that we have to work smarter!  No doubt about that.  Today more than ever we have to be smarter with our time, smarter with our efforts, smarter in every area of our life.  However while I agree with working smarter I think many of us fall into the trap of thinking we can substitute working smarter for working harder.  I would challenge you to do both.

In the end each of has to define success in our own lives and in several areas.  A work colleague of mine, Jim reminds us all  “Success is easier to define after you have lost it.”  Let’s hope that doesn’t need to happen. Be proactive about it, leave a comment, how do you measure success? What are some tips to achieving that success?