A middle-aged woman walked into a picture framing store one day with a plastic bag, clutching it close to her chest.

The manager came out to the counter and said, “Can I help you?”

“I have something in this bag that cost me over $200,000,” she said. “But it’s worth much more than that.”

“Oh, like a riddle? It cost $200,000, but it’s worth much more than that…” the manager said. “I have no idea. Could I see it?”

The woman opened the plastic bag delicately and carefully. With great pride, she unrolled…her daughter’s college diploma.

It may have cost this woman $200,000, but it’s worth much more than that. And that is the absolute truth.

Now, for most of us who went to college, our parents were very happy. Getting accepted to college was the first part of that.

They might have even been happier than you were. But they were only totally fulfilled when you finished.

As always,

Brian

P.S. – This is a tale of a family's success. It's not really about what the woman had or the diploma her daughter earned.

The success we're talking about was how she felt about what her family accomplished.

So, don't swallow some definition of success—hook, line & sinker—that society or the media wants you to believe.

If you do try to and ape someone else's path to success, what ends up happening is that you'll end up trying to live someone else's dream—a dream that you have no connection with.

Dreams are important and so is the belief in something else we talk about a lot: your "imagined future."

Dreams also have an expiration date, even though hope may live on forever. As we are probably all aware, eventually can be a long time.

Need help figuring it all out? We don't have all the answers, but we're here to keep you moving forward.

Knowing something does nothing. Doing something … does.

So, take action. Swift and massive action.

In the meantime, celebrate your success—how you feel about what you have—every once and a while. You deserve it.