What is success?

Success by aloshbennett via Flickr

What is success?

This question has been at the top of my mind lately.

When determining success for marketing clients, the process is fairly easy. This is because most businesses have some fairly cut-and-dried goals: We want to increase our sales by X% over last year; We want to achieve $X in revenue by a certain date; We want to increase traffic to our site by X% over the next 6 months; etc.

If we take a 10000-ft view, the method of determining success is the same in our personal careers as it would be for setting up a business or marketing plan. First, you determine where you want to be versus where you are now. You determine the method to take the path (Do you drive a car? Walk? Fly?) and map out landmarks along the path and when you expect to reach them (aka, setting how you’ll measure your achievements). Then, you take the path via the method you’ve chosen and check your navigation along the way.

The problem with personal and career goals is that “success” means different things to different people. We might take personal pleasure in what we’re doing. But others looking might think that we’re not measuring up to someone else in our field who had completely different personal goals.

What it boils down to is that for personal/career success, unless we’re at the top of our field, lauded by all, it often feels as if we’re viewed as a failure.

Consider this: a person goes in for an interview at a new company or a progress review at the place they work and they’re asked the typical “Where would you like to be in 5/10 years” question. Most interviewers won’t view, “Doing what I’m doing now, but better, and for more money” as a good answer. Why is that? This answer shows they like what they’re doing, they want to improve at it, and they want more pay (which everyone wants). What if the employee’s answer was, “In 5/10 years, I’d like to be seen as a truly integrated part of the company – someone who could be counted on to do whatever work needed to be done, so that I could feel secure in my position”? This shows someone loyal to the place they work, someone who wants to feel important, but who has a realistic view of the world. Ah, but they “lack ambition,” because they don’t want to move up the corporate ladder?

What I’ve noticed lately is that most people believe that if you’re not ambitious, you’re inherently less valuable. You have to want more, to do more, more power, more money, more fame. And while it’s understandable to a point – you want your employees to be hungry and work ever harder – do we really want people to constantly feel unsatisfied? Is it healthy?

In reality, not everyone is going to be a CEO in their lifetime. Why should it be an unwritten rule that people should desire this? Who knows whether those who DO become CEOS have even come close to reaching their personal goals?

The question of “What is success?” is something that each of needs to ponder separately. And then, once we’ve decided, we need to throw off the shackles of public opinion and work toward our individual success, forgetting about what anyone else may think.

Just removing those shackles may be the truest benchmark of being on your way.