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This morning I woke up and realized I had become successful. Isn’t this what they call overnight success? I had been waiting for this moment for years, and here I am living the life of my dreams. I’m so excited, I just can’t wait to tell you about my story.

How about YOUR overnight success?

Before we move on to my story, I want you to take a moment to think about your success story. Are you successful? If not, when is it that you think you will be successful? Tell me in one sentence – What is it that would make you successful?

My not-so-dramatic overnight success story

I owe it to my parents, who gave me a good start by sending me to the best school in the city. It was a tough decision for them, but they beat the odds and did the best they could.

Some dreams and achievements

While at school, I always dreamt of coming out with flying colors so that I could go to the best school of higher secondary education around. I eventually did!

When I was in higher secondary school, I dreamt of going to the best engineering college in my state. I knew my dad would not be able to afford a “paid” seat (one that required a huge upfront donation for admission), so I knew I had to excel in my studies in order to make it into the limited quota that was based solely on performance at higher secondary school. It was one of the most important phases of my life, and I made it!

During my engineering studies, I dreamt of getting a high paying job. I eventually did! I was recruited by a multinational company before I even got my degree. I had a job offer in hand while there was still one more year to graduate.

When I was working, I dreamt of going overseas on assignments. I eventually did! I went to Japan and had the opportunity to work with some of the finest companies in the world and learn some of the best processes.

When it was time, I got married to the love of my life, and, of course, I lived happily ever after. Alright, that only happens in fairytales, but you get the point.

When riches form a part of your success definition

Back of all my desires/dreams and achievements was the one composite vision of getting rich, living a very happy life, and making a difference in the lives of many.

Did I get rich? I like to think so. I’ve seen that the richer one gets, the more riches one tends to want. Being able to call yourself rich someday depends on what you plan to do with your riches. That’s a double-edged sword, because if you set just one very high goal for your desired riches, you may never be able to call yourself rich, ever.

I wanted to be rich, much richer than what my forefathers were. I eventually did! I am glad I am taking time to be happy about this phase of my life. But it doesn’t stop here, because I want to do even better.

Success is a journey, not a destination

I received (kind of) everything I had wished and dreamt for. I realized that I was a success, whether overnight or not.

Now what?

I like to think about my future as a choice between complacence and prosperity. I choose the latter.

I want to continue to live a healthy and happy life.
I want to make a positive difference in the lives of many.
I want to have more riches, not just for myself, but more so for the betterment of mankind.

Does that mean I am yet to be successful? No. Like I said, I am already successful. An important point is that success is not a one-time game. Success is an ongoing affair. Success happens time and again, and I look forward to many such instances in my life ahead.

Moving on with life

I reached a point in my life where I realized that continuing on the same path would not take me very far towards the few simple priorities I had set for myself.

I was working on a highly paid job, but it was taking from me all the time I had. My health was going to go for a toss if things had to continue that way for another few years. Life then would have been sadly disappointing. And furthermore, continuing on a job would increase my riches only linearly at best.

In order to achieve an exponential growth in riches, and to also have more time to be able to make a difference in the lives of others, continuing on a salaried job no longer seemed to be a viable option to me. Nature had its way of guiding me and, with a little bit of courage and calculated risk, I quit my job and took the leap.

Starting out on an entrepreneurial road can make the definition of success complicated. For me, however, the evaluation criteria will continue to be as simple as continued health, wealth, happiness and service to mankind.

Back to YOUR success

Did you give a thought to what I asked you at the beginning of this article? I’d like to leave you with a few questions that may help you on your life journey.

1. On an overall note, do you consider yourself as a success or a failure?
2. What is it that would, one fine day, give you the feeling of having had “overnight” success?
3. What, according to you, constitutes life success?
4. When approximately do you think you will be able to achieve your life success?

I wish that someday soon, hopefully right now, you will be able to get up, throw your hands up in the air, look up in the sky, and shout out at the top of your voice, “Holy crap! I am successful!”.