I have an acquaintance who has a great deal of money. He started out in the financial industry at an entry level position, but quickly moved up the ladder to become the head of his branch office with over twenty-five people working under him. By his own testimony he was making more money than he could have ever imagined, and things are still looking up. On top of that, he has a drop-dead gorgeous wife and several fine kids, a beautiful house in an upscale neighborhood, a boat, nice cars and just about anything else he wants to buy. He is active in his community and a leader in his church.

The question I want to pose now is, "Is he a success?" Outwardly it would seem so. Many of the markers that people use to recognize success are evident - money, beautiful family, nice house, fancy cars, community respect, and the list could go on.

But what many people don’t know is that he is having trouble with his marriage, abuses his wife and kids and is a controlling personality who can’t stand to see other people in a better position than himself. Now what do you think? Is he a success, or not? Certainly on one level he is hugely successful. On another level he is an abject failure.

Lately I have been doing a lot of thinking about success. I hear people talking about it all the time. The funny thing is, when you get to talking in philosophical terms, almost no-one thinks of success in terms of how much money is in the bank account. But, when just shooting the breeze, money is almost always how success is measured. There is obviously a connection between success and money, on one level. But on another level there is a real disconnect. That is what makes this topic so intriguing.

So, what do you think? Is the person who has money successful? Is the person who does not have money unsuccessful? The answer is "yes" on both counts - and "no" on both counts.

The reason both answers can be true, at the same time, is because there is more than one level that we have to think about. Money is only one measure for evaluating success. When you see a person who has a lot of money, the first thought is that this person has accomplished something good to get the money. But, in actual fact, there are other people who have accomplished as much or more in their fields and money is not the marker for their success.

For instance, a person can be a brilliant parent and raise a child who goes on to become an outstanding citizen. That is wonderful success but the evidence comes from the character of the child, not in the bank account. Another person may be a master musician and get huge satisfaction out of performing and giving joy to other people, yet not receive any monetary return. The bottom line is, success relates to accomplishing a goal, no matter what that goal might be.

So, what we are really dealing with is not any particular expression of success, but the bottom line meaning of success. Ultimately it comes down to an individual’s personal value system to determine whether or not success has been accomplished.

Whether you want to be successful making money, making music, or making a good child, there is something else that you have to come to terms with. Success does not come out of what you do - it comes out of who you are.

Achieving success is not something you do nearly as much as the person you become. Become the person who is a success and you will do successful things. So how can you make sure that it happens in your life? Let’s look at four steps.

First, you have to define what success means to you. You cannot achieve a goal that does not exist. If you don’t know what makes you successful you will never know when you get there. You will never know when to be happy and fulfilled.

Once you clearly understand what success is, your second step is to figure out what it takes to achieve it. Be careful on this one. Don’t allow your definition to be something that is fleeting. Too often people make their goal to be some material good. Let that be one indicator that you are moving toward your goal, if you like, but have higher sights than that. No one ever received deep fulfilment in a pile of cash. No one ever got ultimate satisfaction out of a new sports car. What happens if you ever lose them? Use those resources as tools to achieve successes that are lasting, don’t let them be the success indicator, itself.

The third step is to create a plan for achieving your success. There are definite steps that will lead you toward your goal and other steps that will take you in the other direction. Take the time to specifically list out what you need to do. Go so far as to schedule these steps into your life. Put them on your calendar and don’t let anything get in the way of accomplishing them.

Finally, work through the process. Step by step you will move closer to your goal until you actually experience the fruit or your efforts - success.

So, what does all this mean to you? Achieving success is not just a philosophical discussion. The real life implications are that if you find yourself being unsuccessful at something (anything at all), the basic problem is not what you are doing, but who you have allowed yourself to become. The good news is that there are specific steps you can take in life to make things the way you want them to be.

You are a success when you accomplish the things in your life that bring you fulfilment. Make lots of money, if you want, then use it to become successful. But whatever kind of success you choose to work toward, define it, work on it and achieve it! If you do these things, you cannot fail.