If the world seems more and more like a hamster wheel to you, that’s because we have been acting like hamsters. For far too long now, we have been running and running, without stopping to consider why and when to stop.

Some of us just keep running because we see our fellow hamsters running as well, and there is an illusion that we will be left behind, while in reality, everyone is in the same boat, or in the same hamster wheel in this case.

What I am alluding to here, is success, or rather the idea of success concocted by the modern lifestyle, fed to us by various vested entities.

When you take a look around, doesn’t it seem to you like everyone’s running towards success, perhaps without much understanding of what it really even means for them?

Success Doesn’t Always Mean Money

We are all unique individuals. No two people are the same as we all have our own views of life, hopes and dreams, likes and dislikes, abilities and so on. But when it comes to success, most people have a myopic view.

If you ask ten random people, chances are that 8 of them would say that success means having lots of money, or that having a high paying job at a reputed company or something. They keep chasing it their entire lives and only when it is too late, they realise that it is too late for the other more important things in life.

This is what is actually happening these days. Everyone thinks success means money because people around them think so too. In my opinion, that is just mass conformity at play.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Money sure is important in today’s world. A lot of things have become a necessity today and we need money to be able to afford those. And that is not all. To enjoy the different experiences that life has to offer, we need money. Plain and simple. But does that mean that money should be equated with success?

Define What Success Is To You

I mean, stop for a second and just think. If money was not a necessary factor in your life, what would you consider as success? What is that one thing that if you achieved it in your future, you would experience the utmost content?

What we all need to do is define our own success. If it is money, sure, do everything you can to earn loads of money. If it is helping people out in one way or the other, make that your life’s mission, if it is to become a great musician, then by all means, go for it.

What I’m saying is don’t go after someone else’s goals. Choose your own and only then will you be able to give your all because then you will actually care. Yes, money is important but see it as just another necessity that we have to fulfil rather than equating it with success itself.

Also, question the very word ‘success’. If you are leading a very satisfied life, isn’t that better than a successful life? Why even run after it? I think that should be our goal in the first place. To live a satisfied and peaceful life. Don’t run for the sake of running.