51 days to go...

Yesterday ended last night.

My MontBlanc cartridge ended this morning, again.

But so what? I had a great start of the day, and will take my Parker out of storage today.

I enjoyed more than 10 years of uninterrupted writing pleasure with my red and black Meisterstück pens, which are beautiful writing instruments. Such a pity that MontBlanc now sells cartridges that stop flowing after a short while (this was the 5th in a row for me with the same problem). And I was surprised they didn’t reply to my feedback on their website.

The art of writing is, of course, in the writer rather than in the instrument, which is what MontBlanc used to claim earlier. In their latest ad the company claims to be Soulmakers for 100 years! Well, I love nice pens but my soul can live just fine without MontBlanc :-)

In my count-down to turning 50, I am reviewing where I am going. With flexibility, and keeping my options open.

Success is important to me, because I want to move forward in the time that is left for me. But what is success, and what is it to me?

To get some ideas from others, I asked five people yesterday for their definition of success. Three replied.

The first response, almost instantaneous (thank you!) was from a writer and artist: “When you get what you want, when you meet your goal.”

I liked this definition for its orientation on achieving one’s purpose. It implies that you know what you want, what your goal is.

The second reply came from my phone company’s client relationship manager: “Being happy with what you have, who you are, who you’re with, and that you’re almost worry-free in the future. At this point, I still have to earn that kind of success.”

This definition pointed me to success being like a journey. Happiness in the present time is key, and it is connected with people around us. And we need to make an effort to realize our aspirations for the future.

The third reply was from a retired friend: "For me success means to achieve your target, to accomplish the stated purpose."

Once again, this definition underlined the need for a target, for knowing one's purpose. If you don't know where you're going, how can you know if you achieve it?

I reflected on all of these and my own thoughts, and I decided that for me, success seems to have three arenas.

The first is the inner arena. It is about being true to myself, to live in the now, from inside out, about laughing a lot, like a Zorba the Buddha who appreciates both the spiritual and the mundane planes and lives fully in both. It is about the ability to be happy in any moment, without dependence on others or any particular reason. It goes to the root of knowing my purpose for being in this life, and being happy about it. Maintaining good health and energy are part of experiencing success in this arena.

The second arena of success has to do with fulfilling my potential. It’s about growing, about passion, about ability. These come with effort and training. Even if I would believe that I can do anything, I certainly cannot do everything! So selection, concentration, focus, commitment, and sacrifice come into play. Sacrifice is important, because to develop one or more talents I need to let go of other pursuits. Otherwise my passion will be diluted, and the flame won’t be hot enough to create the necessary alchemy for transforming my talents into results.

The third arena of success is about caring and sharing good things with others. It’s about being connected in the Universe, and to be a conduit for its positive energy and creativity. Success here can mean to sow some seeds that can help others to grow. John Maxwell referred to this dimension of success by saying “we make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give”. This resonates with me. As I turn 50, I definitely would like to spend more time in this third arena of success.

I realize that these three arenas of success are connected. That’s where growing up becomes growing whole. I think I have done pretty well in the first arena of success in the past years. I have a good foundation there. Now the second and third arenas are “calling” out for more attention. Not necessarily the way I did it in the past. That’s my journey these days, and today.

Photograph: What direction to go? Blogging from the Long Bar in Cathay Pacific's lounge in Hong Kong airport