More About Defining Success
I continue my discussion on success with some questions that I think are interesting. They help us clarify what we are trying to achieve. I'd encourage you to set aside a few minutes and chew on these. I believe that they'll help to give you a different perspective on what success for you might look like.
1. What values and principles are most important to me? What is one way I could express these each year?
Each of us need a “base line” from which to understand importance and priorities in our lives. They ground us and help us to make decisions that affect who we are and how we act. Without we are free to do almost anything. It is essential to find ways of keeping these in front of us, especially when the tough things in life happen
2. When was the time when I felt most successful and fulfilled? What was it about that time that made me feel that way? What was it I did that helped make this experience possible?
We need to understand and celebrate our successes in life. Understanding our motivators and emotions, those things that make us feel alive, is essential for success.
3. Who do I hope to become? What kind of person would I like to be known as? How would I like others to experience me?
An essential aspect of success is to be the same when you are alone as you are with others. Be genuine, honest, open, and the type of person you would like to associate with.
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4. What contribution do I hope to make? To whom?
This is a difficult question to answer because you do not always know, or even recognize, the opportunities you will get in life. Make the commitment to be a contributor, however, and the opportunities will appear.
5. In what ways might success look different in different parts of my life? (Family, health, spiritual, friends, contribution, financial, etc.). Is there any one area of success that is most important to me? What makes it more meaningful?
Success is defined differently, I have learned, by everyone, so this is a great question to think about. What is it that makes you different and want different things?
6. How will I measure progress toward success? How would I know I'm 'getting closer' or 'I've arrived?'
Simple. Not easy. Success comes in different sized portions, can be extremely fleeting, and may involve a step backwards after several forward steps. The TRUTH is, it is unlikely that you will ever arrive.
These aren't complicated questions. But they aren't always easy to answer. Sometimes, we realize we aren't sure what we want. Maybe we discover that we've absorbed someone else's definition of success and don't have one of our own. It could be that when we are very clear about what we want, we aren't sure we're comfortable with how it sounds.
I think that you might agree that success is relevant to what we want out of life and what we are willing to do, or give up, to achieve it. As a younger man, success was also defined much differently than it is today. Some days it is just the ability to get out of bed. Wherever you are in life I think that it is important to take some time at the end of each day to review and reflect on the successes you had that day. If you are able to do this you whole life will be a success.