When putting a plan together to work on line, deciding what motivates you and creating a compelling vision that moves you towards it, it can be a useful exercise to dedicate some time defining what success will look like for you. If you haven't looked at a plan for yourself you might find my article " A strong beginning builds the foundation for a great ending" useful. For a few years now success for me has always been about following my heart, making a difference and living with passion. As long as I am doing one or all three of these things I am successful. What will success look like for you?

If you have been fortunate enough to discover what you are passionate about, your purpose in life, then you are truly blessed. Look at how you can use this to generate passive income. Getting paid doing something we love really puts the fun in work! Brainstorm ideas! Just write them all down. Start by saying 'I am successful when' then make a list and see what shows up. Give yourself some time to create this list and then move on to the next stage of this process that will help you define success.

Once you have completed that exercise take a look at your list and rate them on a scale of 1-10 (with 1 being not important and 10 being extremely important) rate your list and then select the top 7-10 (you can select as many as you like but I am using 7 as my example in this article)

Here's an example for you :

I am successful when I am making people laugh (4 out of 10)

I am successful when I am making $10,000 a week (2 out of 10)

I am successful when I am doing something that inspires me (8 out of 10)

If you are unsure about which is the more important one, answer this question : If I can have x but I can not have y does that matter? So as an example, if I can have peace but I can not have money does that matter? Remember, this is a way of defining your success, so if doing something that inspires is more important then rate it higher than money; if not rate money higher. Go through each one until you have them in a 1-7 order.

Now create one or two sentences of what success means for you using your 7 key words in whatever order you like. So as an example if my key success words were:

1. peace

2. money

3. freedom

4. inspiration

5. making a difference

6. leaving a legacy

7. time for me

My sentence may say something along the lines of:

"Success for me is about having the inspiration, peace, freedom and flexibility to earn money while making a difference and leaving a legacy. My online business will provide me with time for me and my family."

Defining success in this way is so very important because it is this definition of success that will keep you motivated when you want to give up. Once you have your definition of success the other thing you need is your business vehicle, the online business that will help you to achieve your vision. I discuss that in another article called 'Driving the right vehicle to success' and it is worth reading if you are still trying to figure out what business you want to use to run your internet based business.

So take action and create your definition of success because once you know what it is as long as your online business provides you with the opportunity to achieve it then you are successful. Even if you do not end up earning a six figure sum or becoming a 'guru' you are still successful in your own eyes. And they are the only eyes that really matter!