When we see successful people, more often than not, we notice only their current status, including their achievements, the awesome lives they live and the seemingly constant joy and happiness that they are surrounded with.

What we often fail to notice or even think about is the story behind their success and the arduous journey that they have been on, to reach that particular point in their lives.

The thing is, we may think that in today’s world, there is such a huge competition in almost every field that it may seem like ‘you versus everybody else’, or that in order to succeed, you have to battle it out with everyone else.

But let me tell you, the most important battle in your life, is with yourself, not with anyone else. It’s the battle that we all fight within ourselves every single day of our lives.

Angels and Demons

Within each of us exist angels as well as demons. No, not the ones that are often portrayed by blue and red-bodied figures in the movies.

I am talking about thoughts and feelings. We humans have both positive and negative thoughts, feelings and emotions. None of us is perfect and we all have our baggages and we all have our flaws.

So, even though we would all like to feel happy, contended, joyful, love, friendship, gratitude and other positive feelings all the time, we also experience the opposite end of the spectrum like hatred, sadness, jealousy, fear, shame, worthlessness, etc.

It’s just the perks of being a human, I guess. In a way, we all have two people within us and it is the constant battle between these two people that decide our direction in life.

Who Do You Let Win?

Of course, you let the angel win. It’s kind of an obvious choice really, but it is much easier said than done. In fact, it is one of the hardest thing that a person has to do in his or her life.

I know this first hand because I have fought a lot of demons inside me as well, in my life and it was only about a year or two ago that I was able to defeat them, and my life has never been the same since.

It’s not that I do not experience negative thoughts or feelings from time to time. You must understand that the demon never really dies off completely and always tries to resurface, but it’s totally up to you if you let it overcome and overwhelm the angelic side of you.

To achieve success and to be who you set out to be, there are a lot of obstacles that you have to conquer and that cannot happen when you are not at peace with yourself and if there is a battle raging on within you. So, defeat your demons and keep them subdued.

The Road To Success

Imagine walking on the road to success with someone constantly trying to pull you back. Now, imagine walking the same road without anyone interfering you. It would be much easier, right?

There are many successful people in all walks of life that tell us the story of how they overcame their inner demons and how it was the best and most important thing they ever did for themselves. We could all take a lesson from them and do the same for ourselves.

I remember watching a video of Novak Djokovic, the world renowned Tennis player, in which he mentions the same thing. He says, “The biggest fight I had in my life was actually the fight within.”

If we can all do that, no matter how badly the odds are stacked against us, sooner or later, we will achieve our goals and reach that summit of success.

Image Credits 1, 3. The rest are taken from the public domain.