What's Your Definition of Success?
According to my Google search, success is defined as "the accomplishment of an aim or purpose." When asked what our definition of success is, the answers are varied but may hit some common themes:
Earning a certain salary or level in an organization
Having the type of home you want
Providing college funds for your kids
Having money to spend in retirement
Being able to take vacations away from home
Earning a specific degree
I would doubt that many people would be defining success as working in a job that they hate, seeing their families a minimal amount, and always feeling stressed. However, those are things that I hear and read about a lot. Our definition of success often gets tied to financial measures or stature in a community or organization. We're defining success based on extrinsic measures.
What if instead, we defined success by becoming who we want to be, feeling how we want to feel, and doing what we need and want to do to make those first two true?
You might say that this sounds a bit too touchy-feely, and I get that. However, I think if we're honest about it, these are more meaningful measures. And, using this different definition of success, doesn't prevent the other things from being true, but it allows us to enjoy the journey and not just the outcome.
Try this exercise this weekend (I've include some examples as a guide):
Describe the person you want to be. I want to be the type of person who makes healthy choices in support of my overall well-being, prioritizes time with my family, and works in service of others.
Describe how you want to feel the majority of the time. I want to feel content with the life I have, passionate about the opportunities in front of me, and that I belong.
Describe what actions or habits you would need to put in place to make those things true. I keep a journal to highlight what's working in my life; I prioritize sleep and moving my body more in support of my well-being; I create small milestones that I can celebrate on the way to achieving a bigger goal.
Focusing on who we want to be, how we want to feel, and what we want to do might feel harder at first to describe, but, ultimately, it will be more satisfying. This exercise could be a good one to do with your family, your friends, or even your work colleagues.