I see many business owners strive for success relentlessly. Unfortunately, many don’t take the time to define success and what does it means to them. Running a business turns into a challenging game that needs to be strategized constantly and be taken to the next step. It comes down to finding satisfaction through chaos, stress, and hard work. A great deal of time passes by playing in this game before realizing that the real success is not always tied to money, position or power. Of course, success means different things to different people. To me it means dancing to the beat of my own drums: Freedom -  freedom to make decisions, to make mistakes, and to make memories. Sourinder Pal, a real estate investor and the owner of five restaurants in San Rafael, California, is an ambitious, smart, and hard-working business man. He started with one restaurant, Lotus Cuisine of India, in 1998, which was an instant success. Very shortly, Pal invested into real estate and opened other businesses. Before he knew it, Pal was faced with a series of unpleasant events: identity theft, massive lawsuit along with the drop in the housing market. He lost a lot of money along with precious time fighting his lawsuit, but luckily he found a new meaning for his success. Sourinder Pal used his father’s wisdom that “if they (customers) are pleased, they will come back again and again.” Lotus is an authentic Indian restaurant that is pleasing to all senses: uplifting background music, original paintings, tall and elegant statues, fresh flowers, and the aroma of ancient Indian spices. Pal defines his success to be his customers’ happiness. Perhaps this is the main reason for the success of his restaurant, and I wanted to know the reasons behind the success of his restaurant. Pal gave me these three reasons for crashing his competition:

1. Being Patient – to listen and solve problems
2. Being Available – to make personal connections
3. Being Flexible – to offer customers what they want

These are some of the books that has helped me open up my horizon, taught me to live based on values, and reminds me to look at success as a journey, not a destination:

• A Touch of Greatness, Frank Tibolt (I can’t find a copy of this online.)
• The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
• First Things First

And my favorite audio book:

I love to read your comments on what does success means to you. Your insights become a valuable lesson for the rest of us. Thanks for sharing the knowledge.