I’ve been giving a lot of thought lately to success. Mostly, it’s been centered around deciding what to do with my jewelry busiess. When I started selling my work, the only real goal I ever set for it was that it be self-supporting. Really, that’s the most I expect as a hobbyist without much time to promote my work, and it would make me deliriously happy if making jewelry paid for itself. (It’s not a cheap hobby.)

It’s led me to think about how I define success in general for myself, and I realized something interesting. I consider my current situation successful if I’m able to completely support myself without any handouts from anyone. If I can pay a little extra toward student loans or savings, then I’m really doing well. I’ve never really made it out of that “college survivial” definition of success (which could be a good thing as I’m looking to go back to grad school next year).

I’ve wondered if perhaps I’m limiting myself in my definition of success, but then I consider how I handle things. I’ve never settled for just squeaking by. I aim for being able to pay off my loans more quickly, for being able to sock away a good sum in my savings each month.

It’s a low baseline, but the feelings of happiness and security created when I surpass it make me feel so much better about myself, so I don’t think I’d ever want to change it!

Inspired by David Lozano’s post on being your own support.

Posted by Rebecca in Personal development