Normally when we think of successful people we think of Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerburg and Huda Kattan. In our minds we measure success in terms of the dollar figure but there are so many poor, successful people. Yes, you can be poor and successful based on your definition of success. 

What about the richness of the soul? There are so many poor people who are genuinely content with their life. How can this be? Jannah is our ultimate success. Your relationship with Allah (swt) is your job and paradise is your eternal reward. We so often align success with material things such as cars, houses, and vacations. Being truly content comes from our internal self. “I learned that with happiness the difference was not in the external circumstances, but in my mindset. It was necessary to appreciate what I had, instead of focusing on the things I did not have or did not like. I realized it was about time I became grateful. So, I began to be grateful for my health, for the people in my life, for having food and being alive. By developing the right mindset, we can be happy without changing anything else. We do not need to wait until we have changed everything and made our life perfect.

Why? Because we have everything we need to be happy right now. In short, we need to learn how to be content. After all, they say one is content because he is happy; one is happy because he is content” (Nassar, 2019, p. 1).

We need to learn to be content. If you can be content only then will you be happy. Happiness comes from being grateful for what you have. There’s nothing wrong with striving for material things but when it gets in the way of your happiness then it’s unhealthy. In the end you need to remember that worldly success is determined by Allah (swt). You can work day and night and still not be a millionaire. It’s not in our hands but in the hands of the creator. He deems what he wills.

Written by Anan Helwih