The publishers of Vertical Thought are interested in seeing you succeed! So, how do you go about succeeding? How do you even define success? The fact is that there is no one, all-encompassing definition because success is a relative concept. Many define it with money, fame or fortune.

In the action sense, success is achieving something you have set out and wanted to do. People can succeed at many things: grades in school, sales growth, losing weight, making money, building a deck in the backyard or even learning to play golf.

But the overarching issue regarding success is the connection between success and happiness!

What if all the things you've accomplished don't bring you true happiness and satisfaction? Are you still successful simply because you completed something? From a biblical perspective, successfully living God's way of life produces happiness and fulfillment (Proverbs 14:21; 16:20).

Most experts who have studied this subject say that the only true way to define success is to define it for yourself instead of letting the expectations for success be determined by your peers, culture, society or anyone else. And vertical thinkers should add the all-important resource of letting the Word of God guide them in framing that definition.

In your effort to understand and achieve success—consider these steps:

1) Write on a piece of paper your definition of success. You've got to start somewhere. Get a piece of paper and write your answer. This might not be where you end up, but it at least gives you an idea of what you are thinking right now.

2) Now think about it. People generally don't take the time to get away and just think. In Proverbs 4:26, God talks about the importance of thinking and pondering the path of our feet. Did someone say meditation and prayer? Think.

3) Who do you consider successful? There have likely been a number of people that you have known and met that you consider successful, happy and fulfilled. Consider the lives and happiness of people you've met in life.

4) What is it about them that you consider successful? Is there something about the decisions they make, the priorities they have or the things they focus on that makes them different—that makes them stand out?

5) What is the one ingredient you need to achieve success? There may be many things to consider, but strive to initially focus on one overriding ingredient that you see in these people—that you need to achieve the success that God wants you to have.

6) Remember that success is intertwined with happiness. In the process of evaluating your efforts to succeed, remember that man's experience (and God's Word) confirms that happiness is directly connected with real success. This statement leads to the question: "What is true happiness?"

7) What does God say is needed for me to be successful? Clearly the most important step in achieving success is clarifying what your Creator says about being fulfilled, about succeeding from His point of view. Consider these quotes from the Word of God:

"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all" (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

"He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8).

"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper" (Psalm 1:1-4).

God's Word reveals that serving and obeying Him, humbly serving others and understanding the purpose for human life (to be transformed into the very family of God) are the things that make our lives successful and happy. When we understand the truth of God and come to a point of wanting to make a difference in this troubled world, we are poised to experience true success.

This type of success is not based on physical or financial achievement. Real, lasting success is fulfilling your purpose in life. It is framed in the ability to understand the Word and plan of God, and living and acting upon that understanding.

Want to succeed? You can. Take God at His word that true, lasting success and fulfillment come from understanding and acting upon God's great purpose for you and all of mankind!