7 Ways to Help You Achieve True Success

True success involves a lot more than striving for that corner office, reaching for the next pay raise, or keeping up with the next door neighbor.

True success always involves reaching out to others - beyond ourselves. But achieving the kind of total success articulated by Emerson is clearly no easy task. The path to achieving true success is often strewn with potholes and boulders.

But here are a few things we can do:

1. Take it personal - If we take the same amount of time and energy planning our personal lives as we do our business life or career we would likely live a more meaningful, balanced and personally enriched life. In sourt, strive to make it your business to turn your life into your most successful venture yet!
2. Don’t limit yourself by labels - Remember what your do is not who your are. Author Joe Robinson suggests we carry an ID card with two sides. One side would have your title or profession, the other side would describe the authentic you, the you at your very core. For instance, Judy Brown: Galloping Gourmet. John Smith: Storyteller Extraordinaire. Don Porter: Renaissance Man.
3. Write down your personal goals - Write down your personal goals as well as your career goals. Make sure your goals are quantifiable. There needs to be time and numbers attached to your goals. You might want to lower your golf handicap by three strokes over the next twelve months. You migh want to increase your personal financial portfolio by twelve percent over the next two years. You might want to spend two weeks next summer on a European vacation with your family.
4. Hone in on what really matters most - Things that really matter most in your life should not take a backseart to things that matter least. Remember, your personal values, integrity and self-worth are not determined by your valuables. Time in one resource we cannot regenerate. Accordingly, invest your time wisely on that which is really important to you (i.e. family, friends, health, and yes, your career). Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that your career isn’t important. I’m just strongly suggesting you don’t overweight your career at the expense of other important things in your life.
5. Expand your reach - True success always involves reaching out to others beyond yourself. You can revel in the success of your children. You can contribute to your urban community. You can be a patron of the arts. You can help clean up your environment. You  can mentor a person who needs your help. You can care for the elderly. YOu can give to charitable causes. By reaching out to others we often reap the returns and personal satisfaction that real success can bring.
6. Make meaning - See yourself making meaning as well as money. Judge your level of true success accordingly.
7. Don’t be afraid to fail - In short, don’t be afraid to fail in your quest for true success. Your very striving means you are already on the right road. The passaes we go through in life will continue to through us some cureves and knuckleballs. However, we can take some solace in words of Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone: “Success is not build on Success, it’s built on failure.”

Robert Michael Fried is the best selling author of Igniting Your True Purpose and Passion. He is a marketing executive who has guided the strategic direction for companies like Motorola, Nautilus, bebe eyewear, and several emerging Silicon Valley firms. He is co-founder of Thirdwind, a company dedicated to helping people achieve true success by making meaning as well as money.