When you think of the word “successful,” who’s the first person that comes to mind and why?

Every time this kind of question comes up I go through two mental processes. Who did I think about last time? Has that changed since?

Usually, I think about the last ten or so years of my life, and the people I’ve met in that time. Almost always I come back to two different people. My brother, and my father.

My Dad has led an eventful life. Many years of military service, corporate office job/life of the 90’s, and lots of education. In those areas he’s accomplished so much and when I look back on how I saw him during the years of each of those stages, I see a different man who is somehow still the same. Maybe it’s just that I got to see different sides of him and the way his core values and habits have been applied. Diligence, perseverance, and drive. Fairness, empathy, compassion, and love. All these things have been part of his success in life, and I see it in my brother.

My brother has been the one who has lived up to the image of our father the most. Although he’s the youngest of four kids, he’s managed to pull off most of the old “American Dream” better than the rest of us. A married, kids of his own, a car, and a home. He didn’t go into the military, our Dad forbid it and always said “I did the time so you wouldn’t have to,” but he’s followed a similar career path otherwise. Maybe not to the heights of Dad, but it was enough to get to where he’s at today. When I look at these two, I like to remind myself that they’re closer in reality to the success we should all strive for and not movie stars, celebrities, and corporate big wigs. Those kinds of people had a combination of luck and gaming the system. My family has busted their asses to get to where they are today. They are the ones I think about when I think “successful.”