Bouncing Back Better: A New Definition of Success

For most of my life, I believed success was about status, influence, and achievement. I worked, climbed to the top, and built a career to be proud of. I had power, prestige, and a secure-looking future—until it was all taken away from me. When I found myself in a federal prison, stripped of all I thought made me, I was compelled to ask: **What is success? **

I had defined success previously as what I had—my career, my reputation, my achievements. But **success is not how high you climb—it’s how well you bounce back when you fall. ** It’s not about what you’ve accomplished, it’s about what kind of person you’re becoming in the process.

A New Definition of Success:

1. Success is Not Perfection—It’s Progress

I used to believe that success was never, ever messing up. But life taught me that **true success is not being perfect, it’s improving. It’s growing, it’s learning, and it’s getting better.

2. Success is Measured by Character, Not Accomplishments

I used to think that my worth was tied up in my career. Today, I measure success by **how I treat people, how I serve, and how I live with integrity. **

3. Success is Bouncing Back Better

Life’s gonna knock you down. Success lies in the comeback. It’s resilience, its faith, and never giving up on you.

4. Success is Trusting God’s Plan

No matter how much we plan, life has a way of leading us down a different path. True success is trusting that God’s plan is better than anything we might have dreamed up.

Success is not bouncing back to square one, it’s bouncing back better. Stronger. Smarter. More trusting. And that’s the kind of success that lasts.