Last night I was watching the movie Broken Trail. Robert Duvalls character, Mr. Ritter made this poignant statement when talking to his nephew that you cant measure wealth by money. Yet, how many people use money as the standard to not only measure their wealth but their own success?

One of the activities that I share with all of my clients is for them to define success. During the last almost 10 years since I have been working with individuals, coaching small business owners and training employees in multi-billion dollar corporations, I have learned that very few people have ever defined success in their own terms.

Until my 40s, I, too, was one of those individuals. Then I read the following definition of success within a Leadership Program published by Resource Associates Corporation,

Success is the continual achievement of your own predetermined goals, stabilized by balance and purified by belief.

After several years and expanding my own knowledge about continuous performance improvement, I amended this definition to include the following:

"Success is the continual achievement of your own predetermined goals, stabilized by balance, purified by belief and aligned with your purpose."

Then a few more years passed. When writing a book with a colleague, we both realized that our definition for success again had changed and evolved.

Success is a continual self-discovery of new positive attitudes and strategies that tap our limitless energy by connecting our passion, purpose and performance. Through written goals and action plans, we will direct our behaviors to achieve our dreams and support our core values.

What I have learned from this experience is that it is OK to use someone elses definition initially. However, since each of us are unique individuals, we truly need to define success for ourselves based upon our own experiences. This definition should not be limiting as Mr. Ritter recognized when talking to his nephew but ever expanding. So, the question for you is:

If not, maybe it is time to take the time to commit your definition of success to writing. This may be one of those hidden obstacles keeping you from reaching your success.