9 signs you're successful — even if it doesn't feel like it

Flickr / whologwhy

If you’re ambitious, you’re bound to feel like a failure from time to time. Lofty goals lead to inevitable moments when you aren’t yet living up to your expectations.

We live in a world that reinforces this feeling. Though most people won’t admit it — other than the guy with the 'He who dies with the most toys wins' bumper sticker — in the back of our minds, we equate material possessions with success.

It’s a shame we fall prey to materialistic thinking because we certainly know better.

A study by Strayer University found that 90% of Americans believe happiness is a bigger indicator of success than power, possessions or prestige. Digging a little deeper, 67% defined success as "good relationships with friends and family," and 60% said it is loving what you do for a living. Only 20% stated that monetary wealth determines success.

But saying and doing are two very different things.

When it comes to success, our eyes often lead us astray. It’s hard not to feel like the most successful people are those with the biggest houses, the most expensive cars, and the most influential friends. Regardless of what you achieve, there’s always someone with more, and this can make you feel like you’re losing. The problem isn’t your lack of toys; it’s believing that toys indicate true success.

Real success is about who you are and how far you’ve come. If you ever worry that you’re not as successful as you should be, you may be evaluating yourself against the wrong criteria. Sometimes you just need a reminder as to what you’ve really accomplished in life. The success indicators that follow will help you do just that.

1. You’re no longer the center of the universe

We all know "successful" people who act like they’re the center of the universe. It’s their world and the rest of us just live in it ... right? That’s not success. True success requires the ability to feel empathy — to realize that other people’s feelings and dreams are just as important as ours, and we cannot succeed without them.

2. You stay positive

Hope and optimism are essential components of a happy life. If you dwell on the things that go wrong, you become bitter and resentful. When that happens, you fail — no matter what you may have achieved. Real success means always seeing the bright side and believing you have the power to make even the worst situations better.

3. You know that failure isn’t forever

You’ve learned that the only people who never fail are those who don’t try. When you fail, you don’t automatically assume that you’re a failure. Instead, you embrace each failure as an opportunity to learn something — and then you move on.

If you still struggle with this at times, know that you’ll never experience true success until you learn to embrace failure. Your mistakes pave the way for your success by revealing when you’re on the wrong path. The biggest breakthroughs typically come when you’re feeling the most frustrated and the most stuck.

It’s this frustration that forces you to think differently, to look outside the box and see the solution you’ve been missing.