We all have different criteria by which we judge our lives. For some, it’s how much money they have; for others, it’s how much they go out; for sports fanatics, it’s how well their teams are doing. People need to judge their life on many criteria, not just one. It’s like putting your money into one stock and betting everything on that performance. Judging multiple criteria allows people to grow and help them with hard times. It also helps smooth out the ebb and flow of life.

In my first few years of business, I spent more money than I made. Isn’t the point of business to make money? I knew that I was onto something with my speaking and writing from day one, but it was often difficult to face the fact that I was not making money. Money was not the only criteria I judged my business on.

* Was I growing as a person and a businessman? In my line of work this is very important because if I was not growing as a person, then I could not honestly lecture people about success.

* Where was I compared to where I was six months prior? In my industry, everything has a long lead time, so it might take six months to see the results of something I do today.

* I measure success by who I connect with. I love talking to successful and/or famous people. In the middle of 2010, my manager Kristi got in contact with Newman Communications, one of the biggest publishing agency firms in the United States. When she contacted them, they wanted to have a meeting with me and that got me excited. I know that it’s very hard to get a meeting with them, but I did. There were times when I felt stuck and not sure of myself, but I thought to myself, I got a meeting with Newman, and that meant a lot to me.

Life is comprised of many different pieces. There are times when we should look at life as a whole then there are times when we should look at life in different pieces. When people look at life in different pieces, they can hone in on what they want and need to make life better. Conversely, if we judge life based on one criteria, we run the risk of getting disappointed and more importantly, we don’t live a well-run life.

The Constants of Our Lives

There is one other important element: the constants of our life.

The most important constant I have is my parents. Through good times and bad, they are always there for me, no matter what. Even if I’m having the worst day, I always know that I am loved by them and that gives me great comfort.

When things are uncertain, we can always depend on the constants of our lives to bring us certainty.

Timelapse - Lighthouse (Oct 2012) from IMK Digital Multimedia on Vimeo.