Success On Your Own Terms by Cindy Stradling CSL, CPC
There are many different ways people define the term success. Some people equate success with money and wealth, while others define success as happiness and satisfaction with their life.
Sometimes, success is determined by specific numbers or metrics that are arbitrarily decided by leadership teams, management, sales quotas, production levels, or any number of other factors. While it is essential to meet these definitions of success in professional careers, there is no reason to limit this as your personal definition of success.
Creating a definition of success on your own terms is a powerful exercise. It allows you to focus on what means the most to you and how you measure your achievements and accomplishments over a lifetime. Unfortunately, many very successful people have bought into the idea that success is equivalent to wealth and financial means, which results in unhappy rich people without a sense of purpose and fulfillment in their life.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with having a goal to be wealthy. However, upon closer inspection, it is not likely the money in the bank that provides a sense of success. Rather, it is what the money allows you to do and to accomplish in your life that is the definition of success.
What Do You Want to Do/Accomplish/Become?
Business leaders are often seen as highly successful by the conventional definition of the term, yet they seem dissatisfied or unhappy in their success. This is often a case of not fulfilling what they have always known they wanted to do, to accomplish, or to become.
Taking the time to write down everything you want in life is a good starting point. This is sometimes called a bucket list, but it is really a list of all the things that are important to you. Perhaps you always wanted to travel the world, but are now feeling trapped running a company. Maybe you wanted to spend time helping others, but now work in the C-suite and rarely have the opportunity to mentor and work with new employees.
Finding out want you want to accomplish in your life is a way to determine what will make you feel fulfilled and happy. Finding ways to incorporate that personal definition of success with the rest of your life is the sure way to find fulfillment and happiness that makes you look forward to getting up and going to work every day.
