About This Site
This site is a statement of my life. I wish to live a successful and fulfilling life and I hope to help others do the same. Ever since I was a little kid I dreamed of being successful. First I wanted to be an Olympic runner; then I wanted to be a video game designer; and now my goal is to continue pursuing success in all areas of my life as well as helping and empowering others to find success in theirs.
There are a lot of websites out there that offer all kinds of tips and how-tos; some are excellent, others merely mediocre, and still others that are simply a waste of your time. I hope that this site will be an entertaining and informative source of information, inspiration and encouragement. Although, I am no expert, I do have a passion for continual improvement and a desire to share what I’ve learned with others.
Over the years, I’ve come to realize that I learn best through experience. It is a process that rewards through humility. I tend to make mistakes and fail often. My hope is that my readers can learn from the mistakes I’ve made and the wisdom I’ve garnered through those experiences. As Chester’s Tips is constantly growing and evolving, I apologize if there are some temporary kinks that need to be worked out. Please bear with me.
What is Success?
One of the best definitions of success that I’ve heard in recent years is the one that the famous motivational speaker Earl Nightingale uses in his famous audio series, “The Strangest Secret.” His definition: Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal or ideal.
Success is not a state to be achieved. I don’t hope to one day wake up and feel assured that I’ve found success. According to Nightingale’s definition, success is a continual and progressive realization; it has no end. Pursuing success is a journey towards a worthy ideal. While this can mean many things to many people, for me, a successful life is one that is rich, passionate and meaningful.
Pillar One: Living Richly
A rich life is a life not controlled by the power of money. That’s not to say that people don’t need money, or that everyone should give up all their possessions; rather, it means that we should allow money its proper place in our lives. We need money to live, but we shouldn’t live for money.
Learning how to live richly involves knowing how to handle money. This includes: investing smartly, saving, budgeting and even giving to charity and others in need.
Although “rich” is most often associated with money, living richly is not limited to monetary wealth. A rich life is one that is surrounded not by possessions, but by deep relationships and experiences. The richest moments of my life have been conversations and moments with people I love dearly.
Pillar Two: Living Passionately
As great as it is to have money, it’s not enough. People who work for money, without passion eventually burn out. Passion is vital to life.
I once met a man who said that if he could eliminate sleep from his daily routine he would be a very happy person. His passion for life overrode his desire and need for sleep.
Passion is one of the primary motive forces in life. It allows us to surpass our physical, mental and psychological boundaries and discover what lies beyond.
Pillar Three: Living Meaningfully
There’s this saying, “He who dies with the most toys wins.” It’s a funny statement and one that most people recognize as being inherently flawed; and yet so many of us live as if we believe its truth.
Having money and enjoying your work is very important to living a successful life, but ultimately people don’t live for inanimate objects. We live for the people we love and the people whom we don’t yet know we love. Life is most enriched by the moments of excitement, anguish, joy and sorrow that come through our connections with people. My third pillar, and the most important, is living a life of meaning.
Living meaningfully, for me, means investing in the lives of people and their communities. It means giving more than you receive, looking beyond your own individual needs, and helping others.
Disclaimer - Success is Relative
Some readers may find my definition of success inaccurate or too simplistic. Success is, after all, a relative term; its meaning depends on the individual. Some people desire money, others love and affection from friends and family, and still others just want to be able to pursue their passion 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. For me, it’s somewhere in between. Success is living richly, passionately and meaningfully. I hope that even if you may not agree completely with my outlook that you might at least find something useful or thought provoking in my posts.
About Chester’s Tips
My personal strengths are in communicating ideas as well as educating and empowering others. I hope that the stories and information I share through this website will empower others to live rich, passionate and meaningful lives. Since improving quality of life is a very broad topic, my posts may cover a wide range such as personal finance, personal and career development, communication tips, inspirational stories etc. My posts include a mix of my own personal reflections and ideas as well as the ideas and wisdom of others.
I hope that this site will become a place that will inspire, empower and encourage others to think, reflect and take active steps in the pursuit of successful living. Since I believe that discussion and debate is vital to life, I encourage you to leave a comment and challenge my thoughts whenever you feel compelled to. I love a good debate. 
Since no two people’s lives are the same, I do not boast to be able to solve everyone’s problems. I don’t even boast to be able to solve my own problems. However, I do believe that there is a benefit in sharing what I’ve learned through my reflections on life, books that I’ve read and stories that I’ve heard. If for nothing else, I hope this site will give you some food for thought.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to reading your comments.
Happy Living!
Chester
