It's a great question and one I spent many years trying to answer for myself. In fact, I'm sure you've wondered the same thing at least once in your life. It goes without saying we'd all like to label our lives as successful, but what does that that really mean?

My coaching practice and website were born out of my own desire for a successful life. After I got past all the expectations of society, I decided my mission here is to empower you to discover, create and live your successful life. Okay, I know I still haven't told you what a successful life is. Let's take a look at the textbook definition.

Successful is defined as: "having obtained something desired or intended."

Life is defined as: "the interval of time between birth and death."

A successful life is obtaining the desired outcome for the period between your birth and your death. There's a great poem titled "Living Your Dash" (author unknown) that illustrates my point. The poem talks about the dates on the tombstones of the deceased. The dates usually look like this: 1922-1999. The "-" (dash) represents life, the interval of time between birth and death.

The point of the poem is that your dash is now. You are living your dash. And here's the question: is your "dash" the way you want it to be? And it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. In your own heart, are you living your life the way you want? Beneath all the titles, degrees, bank accounts, cars and houses, do you go into each day thinking "yes, this is my life on my terms, the way I want it." Do you lay your head on the pillow each night knowing your day was a full expression of the purpose for your own dash?

Are the dreams you had when you were young still alive in your heart? Or have those fires been extinguished by the "harsh realities" of the world?

Is your life guided by your own self-created, divine life purpose? Or do you simply react to the things going on around you?

Are you on fire with passion and positive expectation when you awaken each day? Or do you go to bed at night wondering..."is this all there is?"

Do you go through life joyfully singing your own song? Or do you feel like the one-trick pony, performing for everyone else?

That dash I talked about is pretty small folks and your dash is now. It's not tomorrow, not when you have that other job, not when you get enough money, not when the kids are grown and not when your best friend is reading your eulogy. You've been given today, but there are no guarantees on tomorrow.

Isn't it about time you discovered your purpose here and started expressing it? Isn't it about time you started to express your own greatness. And don't worry that you don't know what to do. Start - first - by making a firm committment that you'll no longer settle just for what life offers you. Commit to making your life be exactly what you want it to be. I promise that if you'll do that, everything else will magically work out for you.

It's your life. Make it the way you want it!