There are different types of financial success. Some are more important at some times of our lives than others. At some times financial success is defined as being paid for good career performance. At other times it’s getting that first big promotion and raise. At other times, it’s having financial freedom to do what you want when you want.

The key to feeling financially successful is to first define what financial success means to you. For every person, the definition of financial success will be something different. Your personal definition of financial success will also change as your life changes. Your personal definition of financial success will be different when you’re single, when you’re married, when you have kids and when your kids are grown and defining their own personal financial success.

Financial Success

– This is the type of success that most people envision when thinking about success. In some cases financial success includes freedom or enjoyment. In other cases, financial success comes at a price. A career that isn’t a passion, long hours, demanding career paths, few if any vacations and very little time to call your own.

Because of these two very different forms that financial success can take, I’m going to break financial success into two categories – Financial Freedom and Career Success.

Financial Freedom

- This type of success is the one that we all are looking for. Sometimes this is being financially successful while doing something you love. Working an average amount of hours doing something you love, such as a hobby or passion, and making an excellent living at it is financial freedom in my book. Who wouldn’t want to be able to turn a hobby or passion into a good source of income? Other times, this is being able to do something you’re good at so well that you only need to spend a few hours a day making a good living, allowing you the freedom to pursue other hobbies or interests.

Career Success

- This is the daily grind that pays well. If you have a career that pays very well, you probably don’t have much freedom with your time. This may have been your dream job at one time, but it was likely only because of the money you would be making, and not because of any real interest or passion.

A good way to determine if your financial success is financial freedom or career success is to ask yourself this question – If you won the lottery tomorrow, would you still take part in this type of career? I’m not asking if you would keep your job, but would you maybe go back to your job every once in a while to see what projects everyone was up to? Would you help out as an independent consultant if someone needed your input? Would you use your winnings to create your own business in the same field?

If you would be out of your office so fast their heads would spin, lottery ticket in one hand and passport in the other, you, my friend, merely have a high-paying career. Even if you are financially successful, you don’t have the financial freedom that we are all looking for.

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