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Transcript

The Real Definition of Success · The Daily Writer

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Daily Rider, where we share a lesson each day to help you cultivate the habits for creative success.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: These lessons are inspired by great artists, authors, and thinkers, both past and present.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: For more, you can visit us at dailywriterlife.com.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: What does it mean to be successful as a writer?
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's a simple question.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: You might even say deceptively simple.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: Because we don't often stop to think about how we define success.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: We're so accustomed to certain metrics that we seldom question our ideas of what success means.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: Just like a dog who's chasing a car, we continue to run after it, never stopping to wonder if we should be chasing that car in the first place.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: We typically define success in terms of achievement.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: When someone has a successful book launch and they reach a certain number of online reviews, we brand that as a success.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: When someone sells a certain amount of books, we brand that as a success.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: When someone gets a publishing deal with one of the top five New York publishing houses, we brand that as a success.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: Are those achievements worthwhile?
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Of course they are.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Many writers have achieved those metrics, and there doesn't seem to be much of a downside to having lots of online reviews, book sales, or the marketing power of a big New York publisher.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: However, there's one big problem with defining success as the achievement of a big goal.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: And the problem is this you can't be successful every day if you define success like that.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, if you put all your stock into a big book launch every couple of years, you'll only feel successful for a couple of weeks during the big book launch about once every two years.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: In 1956, the influential broadcaster Earl Nightingale recorded a brief spoken word record titled The Strangest Secret.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: And in this recording, he identified the best definition of success he had ever heard.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: He said, success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: So what does this mean for writers?
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: It means you're a success when you take one step closer toward your big goals.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: Every day that you write, you're a success.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: Every day that you take care of your health, your success.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Every day that you do something to build your writing platform, you're a success.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: Every day that you conquer self-doubt and fear and you keep doing the work anyway, you're a success.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Every day you make progress, even if it's just a little bit, you're a success.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, thanks so much for listening to this episode of the Daily Rider Podcast.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: We really appreciate your support and hope you enjoyed this.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: You can find more at DailyWriterLife.com.