Stop.
Take 30 seconds and state your definition of success—out loud.
Don’t think, just let your natural definition flow then continue the statement with how you measure success.
Have you ever taken the time to determine your personal definition of success? Ironically enough, few of us have devoted the time to personally define the single thing which we design our lives around. Now, many of you consider yourself more focused on happiness than success. It is my belief, when defined correctly, happiness and success are one and the same.
Think again about your personal definition of success. Did it include money, stature, or fame? Why did you define success the way you just did? Do you think you will be happy when you achieve success? On what do you base that answer? How many times do we watch the news and see someone we consider successful going through a divorce, a bankruptcy or other scandal? Even with their previous levels of success, do you think they are happy?
Hopefully, your interest was piqued with thoughts of finding a more clear definition of success. This hit me recently on a flight from Germany to Chicago. Imagine the travelers around me when I began asking for their personal definitions of success. Many times, I watched as their faces turned to a quizzical look and they responded…”I guess I never actually thought about it, just focused my life on the broad understanding of success.”
Engage with me over the next 5 months to truly think about the road we are traversing with our lives on the path to success and happiness. Both how we define it and how we measure it.
Meet me back here the first Friday of each month for a new chapter in this series. Success of this series is defined as you devoting time to thinking about the topic, refining your definitions and measures, and engaging in the comments below, on Twitter, or via LinkedIn to share your insights and thoughts. All aspects of this series will be concurrently published as a LinkedIn Post as well.
Thanks for your time and devotion to self-improvement. Let’s keep the conversation going.
#TripodofSuccess
