It depends on how you define success. . .
Maria Popva recent posting on Brain Pickings about Success got me thinking about the whole quest for success. She is right on when she hints there are as many definitions of success as people that talk about it. Maria reports that:
“Thoreau saw it [success] as a matter of greeting each day with gratitude and for designer Paula Scher, it’s about the capacity for growth; for Jad Abumrad, it comes after some necessary “gut churn”; for Jackson Pollock’s dad, it was about being fully awake to the world.”
Yet, the best kind of success is the kind you define yourself. Nobody can really tell you what success is for you. You have unique talents, aspirations, and career path. How can they know what is success for you?
The victim of a stroke might not be able to speak clearly, or remember all the words she used to know. But if today she was able to say and understand 10 more words, she is successful.
The new teacher might not be able to hold the attention of his class the whole day. But if he was able to maintain control of the classroom and the students learned something, he is successful.
The new CEO might not know "the ropes" yet. But if on his first day he was able to navigate meetings and remember a few new names, he is successful.
Or at least, they are successful IF what they did was in line with their expectations.
There are leaders who are highly successful in other’s peoples eyes, yet feel as a failure, because they are so perfectionistic that they can never reach their own standards.
There are others that feel quite successful, yet due to their shady dealings and abrasive style are look at with contempt and considered failures by many.
You can be successful every day if you are clear about your expectations and how will you know if you have fulfilled them for that day. Maybe that can be a good exercise first thing at the start of your work day. To clarify your expectations for the day. Then, make them come true!
Remember. . .
Take a few moments to reflect on the day ahead and make your expectations visible and quantifiable. Decide what markers will tell if you have been successful. Then take action and start advancing step by step. As Alexander Graham Bell said:
“It is the man who carefully advances step by step, with his mind becoming wider and wider … who is bound to succeed in the greatest degree.”
I can help you or the leaders that report to you be more effective and successful. To find out more, simply click here.
Photo by: itupictures