Daily Pleasures Meet Long Term Purpose.

What does “having it all” mean to you? Is it attainable?

Dreaming about “having it all” is something I used to do in quiet moments, juggling images of joy and success like rare marbles. Now, life has shown me that this idea isn’t fixed. It shifts and ripples with each year, influenced by fresh starts, hard days, deep belly laughs and silent, peaceful nights. Today, my version of “having it all” looks less like perfection and more like a balanced seesaw—where daily pleasures meet long term purpose.

Redefining Success: What Truly Matters to Me

Listening to My Own Voice

What if chasing a supposed “ideal” only brought me stress? It took time and more than a few tough lessons, to realise that real success felt personal and sometimes quiet. Earlier in my life, I thought checking off boxes (career, money, recognition) would unlock happiness. Others have felt the same push-pull. But each time I hit a milestone set by someone else, I noticed the joy faded fast.

Brave choices often meant tuning out the noise and tuning in to my own voice. When I decided not to take a “dream job” in a city that drained me, friends questioned my thinking. But deep down, giving up prestige for peace felt right. Those moments taught me how powerful it can be to drop the mask and live by my values. Over time, my definition of “having it all” tightened around the things that truly feed me e.g. honesty, warm human connections, time for myself and meaning over medals.

The Value of Small Joys and Simple Wins

Big success gets the spotlight, but my daily contentment is stitched together from smaller threads.

• The sound of laughter as my family cooks dinner.
• That rush of relief after a deep breath at sunrise.
• A tiny note from a friend saying, “Thinking of you.”

These are the micro-moments where purpose finds me. Success now looks like finding gratitude in these simple pleasures. I believe redefining success means paying attention to these wins—a healthy meal, an honest chat, an afternoon nap when I need it most.

Photo by Mikhail Nilov

Finding Balance: Career, Relationships, and Peace of Mind

There was a time when I tried to keep every plate spinning, convinced real achievement meant never letting one fall. But running on empty isn’t balance. Each stage of life has asked me to refocus—some seasons centre on work, others on love or healing. Balance, I’ve learned, is not a perfect split. It’s a gentle act of shifting weight, letting some things rest while others rise.

Making Time for What Matters

Protecting my peace isn’t about strict schedules or endless to do lists. It’s about steady choices—saying no when I’m at capacity, making memories with people I love and setting aside time for my own mind. For me, this looks like:

• Keeping phones away during dinner.
• Choosing weekend walks over weekend overtime.
• Giving myself permission to rest, guilt-free.

I stopped aiming to “do it all” at once. Now, I listen when my body says pause and I listen when my heart says yes. These routines keep my ambition honest and my spirit fed.

Letting Go of ‘Perfect’ and Embracing Growth

There’s a saying that “done is better than perfect.” I ignored it for years, tangled in my drive to do things exactly right. Every missed mark used to feel like failure. Eventually, chasing perfection left me worn thin and less present for the people who mattered most.

Growth feels different. It’s about showing up and trying again, not holding myself hostage to mistakes. Now, I swap self-criticism for curiosity. If something doesn’t work out, I ask, “What did I learn?” not, “Why did I mess up?” Letting myself be a work in progress means less stress and more laughter, more real memories and less regret.

Conclusion

Having it all means something different for each of us, and that’s the beauty of it. For me, it’s not about juggling more, but cherishing what I hold. It’s about showing up for my life as it is—messy, ordinary and sometimes brilliant. Some days, “having it all” lives in big moments of success, but more often, it sneaks in during small hours of peace or kindness.

Success, for me, is a story I keep rewriting. I hope you feel free to write your own story too—with chapters filled by your values, your loves, and your joys. If you’re looking for inspiration on defining your own measure of success, know you’re not alone. Keep listening to your heart and let your definition of “having it all” grow with you.