Success is simple
13:00
"Life is not complex. We are complex. Life is simple, and the simple thing is the right thing."
- Oscar Wilde
I would say the same about success. Perhaps most people don't achieve success because they haven't defined it precisely for themselves.
I like the following definition of success by Sally Hogshead, author of Radical Careering: Success is the ongoing process of becoming your best self.
The fact that so many people in suits (and I was one of them prior to June 2000) compete in the corporate rat race, proves that we have never defined success in our own terms. We tend to pursue success the way a corporate employer would define it: status, salary, the corner office, etc.
Another definition of success that I like, comes from John Ruskin: "When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece."
This masterpiece can be your life, your career, your business, or your family, etc. It can even be a son or daughter that you lovingly educate, coach, guide, etc. so he/she will blossom into a wonderful, confident, responsible, compassionate and talented person.
To come back to the above quote, I would rewrite it this way:
Success is not complex. We are complex. Success is simple, and the simple thing is the right thing.
In my Ideal Career workshops, I encourage (exhort!) participants to clearly visualize their ideal career. That is, I push them to clearly define what they mean by a "successful career."
An ideal career has 4 key components: passion, talent, serving the world's need, and sense of purpose or importance.
The reason why so many baby boomers feel empty, even after what seems like a "successful" career, is that society has conditioned them to want and desire status, income, power, etc. as the unique measure of career success.
Most job ads, for instance, don't mention anything about talent (or the opportunity to develop one's talent), or passion, or how important the job really is.
Fortunately, we don't have to deal with "corporate employers." We only have to deal with our immediate supervisor, or boss.
If we are clear about what success means to us, and we honestly share our definition of success with our boss, there's a high likelihood that he/she will help us in achieving success in our career.
On the other hand, if we don't take the time to clearly define what "success" means to us, then nobody can help us. Not even God.
"Life is not complex. We are complex. Life is simple, and the simple thing is the right thing."
- Oscar Wilde
I would say the same about success. Perhaps most people don't achieve success because they haven't defined it precisely for themselves.
I like the following definition of success by Sally Hogshead, author of Radical Careering: Success is the ongoing process of becoming your best self.
The fact that so many people in suits (and I was one of them prior to June 2000) compete in the corporate rat race, proves that we have never defined success in our own terms. We tend to pursue success the way a corporate employer would define it: status, salary, the corner office, etc.
Another definition of success that I like, comes from John Ruskin: "When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece."
This masterpiece can be your life, your career, your business, or your family, etc. It can even be a son or daughter that you lovingly educate, coach, guide, etc. so he/she will blossom into a wonderful, confident, responsible, compassionate and talented person.
To come back to the above quote, I would rewrite it this way:
Success is not complex. We are complex. Success is simple, and the simple thing is the right thing.
In my Ideal Career workshops, I encourage (exhort!) participants to clearly visualize their ideal career. That is, I push them to clearly define what they mean by a "successful career."
An ideal career has 4 key components: passion, talent, serving the world's need, and sense of purpose or importance.
The reason why so many baby boomers feel empty, even after what seems like a "successful" career, is that society has conditioned them to want and desire status, income, power, etc. as the unique measure of career success.
Most job ads, for instance, don't mention anything about talent (or the opportunity to develop one's talent), or passion, or how important the job really is.
Fortunately, we don't have to deal with "corporate employers." We only have to deal with our immediate supervisor, or boss.
If we are clear about what success means to us, and we honestly share our definition of success with our boss, there's a high likelihood that he/she will help us in achieving success in our career.
On the other hand, if we don't take the time to clearly define what "success" means to us, then nobody can help us. Not even God.
posted by Super Peter at 11:59 PM
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