Do you consider yourself successful? Are you happy with your level of success? Are you happy? When I ask these questions, it is clear to me the answer changes based on how you measure success.
If you measure it by what most consider success, you are looking at money and your title. It’s not all about the money, the fame, the big cars, the big job, and the big title. You can have all of those and still not feel successful. We have a tendency in this country, to measure success strictly by the money you have and the title. The bigger the title, the more money you have, the more you are. The problem is that not everyone wants a big title or to make lots of money. And the fact of the matter is, many of the people with the money and the title do not consider themselves successful.
If we don’t change or expand our definition of success, only a small number of people attain success. I invite you to look at success differently. Take time to decide what is YOUR measure of success. What brings you joy? What is it important for you to accomplish? The best measure of success is what YOU choose to be for YOU. I have even known families to come together to define what the agreed upon definition of success is going to be for their family or even relationship/marriage.
I invite you to take the time to define success for yourself, your partnership, and/or your family. Whatever you do, start with you. And to do this, let’s expand the definition from the title and money conversation to the areas included on the Wheel of Life. I use this tool in my Self-Care Coaching sessions to allow us to identify our levels of satisfaction in each of the areas. Review the Wheel of Life and consider what you feel is the definition of success in each of the following areas:
- Career
- Money
- Health
- Friends and Family
- Romantic/Significant Other
- Personal Growth and Spirituality
- Fun and Recreation
- Physical Environment
These areas are typically found on the WOL, but you may identify others that are more meaningful for you and your definition of success. Use this as a starting point to finding your own definition of success. Once you define your personal definition of success you can accurately assess how you are doing based on your definition.
One step at a time! Have fun!
Deborah