Success

Tell me what you feel is success, your answer may reveal more than you think.

People often ask me how I found my success in the military, the promotions, the awards, the titles.

The truth is...I wasn't chasing any of them.

I did work I loved to do, and I committed to doing it as well as I possibly could.

Along the way, leaders saw potential and poured into me, trusted me with greater responsibility, and believed in me before I fully believed in it myself.

The promotions, the awards, the titles all followed, they were never the goal.

Then, I came across John Wooden's definition of success:

"Success is peace of mind attained only through self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do the best of which you are capable."

No mention of wins. No mention of championships. No mention of what anyone else thinks.

The scoreboard has a way of taking care of itself.

Because success isn't about what you achieve.

It's about who you become and the impact you make along the way.

Today, my definition of success is this:

Success is authentically becoming the best version of yourself and pouring into the people around you, then watching them become better in the process.

Don’t chase the clout; invest in the people who define your culture.