What success means to you?

 

It might seem an obvious question, but most people can’t answer it objectively.

Success can have completely different meanings, depending on who is describing it.

I remember when I was talking to a friend (C-Level within a huge multinational), and he asked me if my aunt was successful. I knew exactly what success meant to him, but I wanted to provoke some reflection.

Instead of answering it, I asked him another question: “What success means to you?”.

He looked at me, took a big breath, thought a bit and said: “Is he rich?”

I said: “no, he isn’t rich”.

Important to emphasize: I said he wasn’t rich, not that he was unsuccessful.

From this experience, I share with you two important insights.

Firstly, define what success means to you instead of simply swallowing definitions imposed by others. What success means to your dad/mom/partner/friend might be completely different from what success means to you.

There isn’t right or wrong, but what resonates with your values, missions and beliefs.

Secondly, if you don’t have clarity of what success means to you, you might be chasing what success means for others.

Although others might see you as successful, that’s the path for frustration.

Learn about yourself and go after your success, regardless of what success means to you.