Everyone’s version is different, so think about what it means to you. When defining the concept, see past old school status symbols. See past possessions. See past a glossy social media feed, titles and accolades.
Here’s how you know you’ve made it:
You have complete awareness
You know yourself. You know when you’re at your best and your worst and where you need to improve. Nothing anyone else says can shock you because you’ve already assessed it and made a plan. You can see yourself as others see you and it’s all intentional.
You know which people, foods, places and things bring you happiness, energy and joy. You have complete awareness of when the opposite is happening, and you don’t make the same mistake twice. When you admire others it’s because of those traits you see as important for yourself. How they treat people and how they make a difference within their field. Patience and kindness. Authenticity.
You have defined “enough”
Ambition varies wildly between people, but satisfaction and serenity are universally important. You know what “enough” feels like and you are grateful to have it. Your goal isn’t to achieve and earn more at all costs. You’ve found the sweet balance between ambition and contentment and it’s a great place to be.
Your focus on gratitude and abundance keeps serving you, while new things to be grateful for seem to pop up every day. You secretly feel like you’re a really lucky person and you regularly see signs to reaffirm that belief.
You have nothing to prove
You’ve made it when you truly believe you have nothing to prove. You know when to strive for a goal and when to cut your losses, and you don’t care what anyone thinks of that. You make your decisions based on your own version of success and you appreciate that it’s different to the versions of others.
You recognise that criticism and reactions from others are part of the journey. If you have created or done something remarkable, not all remarks will be positive, and that’s cool. You see no benefit in taking criticism to heart, especially when it comes from someone whose advice you would never ask for. The same goes for praise.
You’re at peace
You won’t find yourself frantically scrolling and clicking looking for something to react to. You can agree to disagree and walk away without having the last word. You can shrug and say I don’t know, and not be embarrassed to not have the answer. You can tidy up after someone else without feeling the need to lecture them, and you can be in public without judging those around you.
Engaging in pointless chatter about the affairs of others doesn’t form part of your day. It certainly doesn’t bring you joy. You look to others to learn and be inspired, not to ridicule or judge. You make excuses to leave or change the subject when a conversation goes that way. You live each day at peace and rarely are you overwhelmed, flummoxed or taken on a rollercoaster of emotions by anything someone else has said or done.
You trust your process
You have faith in the process that brought you to where you are now and trust that there’s more of the same in your future. You don’t push hard for answers or results and you can be patient with yourself and those you work with. Your focus lies in being exceptional and consistent, so incremental gains that stack up over time happen without you realising. There’s no frustration or anxiety, only focus and quiet confidence.
You don’t strive to stay in your comfort zone, you’re hungry to test the edges to learn and grow. You are fully aware that no one else can make you do or feel anything without your consent, so the power to change lies firmly in your hands.
You lead with love
You know that life is too short to work on things you don’t care about with people you don’t believe in. It means your projects have purpose and your people have passion. Leading feels effortless because you’re navigating as part of a team, utilising empathy, being liberal with the benefit of the doubt, learning together and operating within shared commitment to a cause.
You can spot when someone is leading with fear and you’re rarely hoodwinked. You’ve read the unsolicited approaches; you’ve signed the NDAs and you’ve built yourself a detector that’s rarely wrong. You can differentiate the true opportunities from the distractions in disguise and you say no far more than you say yes so you can be 100% committed to what really matters.
You don’t wish harm on others and anyone who has harmed you in the past is forgiven. Your focus is on your own game, and you hope that others can focus on theirs. What someone else does or says is none of your business, and you don’t want it to be. You see no one as your competition or enemy because your energy isn’t focused on conflict or negativity. You live and let live.
“Making it” is far more a state of mind than cash in the bank or ownership of possessions. Once you choose to feel like you’ve made it, you look, act and feel like a different person. You attract better opportunities, you think better thoughts and you start to truly believe it. You’re suddenly living like the person you always dreamt you’d be and everything springs into action to match.