Do you define success for you in the same way as the dictionary defines success as the achievement of something that is planned and attempted, such as the attainment of wealth, position and honours?
Then to be successful you must achieve that which you have planned or attempted. (You are not considered a success just for trying, and making an effort!) Or you must attain wealth, high position or honours!
What do you believe is the most important thing for a person when it comes to true success?’ Having spent so much time studying success, my initial reply would be: Your health, of course. Sure, your health is your wealth, or so the saying goes.
Yet if our health is our wealth, why is there such a rising use everywhere of antidepressants, alcohol, illegal drugs and painkillers? There is also the sad reality of how many people – especially young people – take their own lives every year. Now don’t get me wrong, for there is an Arabian proverb that says: “He who has health, has hope; and he who has hope, has everything.” So yes, it is often said that our health is our wealth. Yet, how true is it really?
It is often only when people get really sick and are facing death that they take up a hobby or lifelong interest they have always wanted to pursue. Why is it, do you think, that they then seem to live longer than they otherwise would have done?
We all know that when you care for your body, you also care for your mind; both are needed if you are to achieve the success you want in your life. Our body is the only instrument we have to experience life and make a contribution, but we always seem to be pushing ourselves and our bodies, even through the pain barrier, or when we are feeling unwell. After all, life can be tough, as we pursue a life of success that is true to us. So, it is important that we allow ourselves to renew physically, mentally and emotionally, rather than spending so much of our energy and resources on external things.
So, is it true for you then that your health is your wealth?
This is all discussed in my book Conversations in Singapore: Searching for True Success on the Silk Road One Question at a Time (Published by Liberties Press) and available in book shops and from here.
A book that will change your life, for you will never see achieving success in the same away again, be that for yourself or the people who matter most to you.
Unique and easy to learn from, [posing] captivating questions for anyone’
Metro Éireann