What Is Success?

To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;

To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty;

To find the best in others;

To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;

To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived;

This is to have succeeded.

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Photo by Drew Beamer on Unsplash

I came upon this poem recently and it got me reflecting upon how we define success. There are so many external metrics we often use to measure whether we’re successful or not. What level of financial security have we obtained? What neighborhood do we live in? What’s the size of our house? What brand of car do we drive? How have we advanced in our career? How many deals have we closed? What awards have we won? What kind of recognition have we achieved? Where do we go on vacation? Who did we marry? How many likes have our posts received? How many followers have we obtained? And the list goes on.

At times, I have certainly defined my success by some of these measures. Many have changed with different stages of my life. These metrics aren’t by definition bad but in of themselves they’re not sufficient. I recently attended a webinar and the topic of success came up. One presenter described success as following his curiosity and doing what brings him alive. He used external measures as well and I was reminded of the importance of recognizing what is energizing and engaging in our work and life. What lights us up! We often go through our day unaware of what’s draining us and reach the end of our day exhausted and unfulfilled.

It seems to me that a starting point to any definition of success would be understanding what’s important to us as individuals. This is often an exercise in evaluating our values and assessing those that are most important. Some possible values could be the following: adventure, wealth, curiosity, freedom, service, recognition, ... and so many more. Then attempt to align our work and life objectives with the values we’ve identified. Without setting our intentions towards a specific goal it will always be a challenge to measure our success and we’ll watch it slip through our fingers.

So what’s your meaning of success? I still like Ralph Waldo Emerson’s.

And if you need help setting your intentions and sticking to the goals you’d like to achieve, schedule a chemistry call with me at Meet Mike .