Skip to main content

Success, what is it and how do we get it?

What does success look like for you? Is it attached to a career? A job role (label) or position? Is it an amount of income generated or is it more?

In our very hierarchical workplaces (very few are truly flattened) success is often tied into the job we do, and the higher up the ladder we go the more 'successful' we are apparently.

However I pose you this question, when someone is giving your Eulogy what do you want them to say about you. That you achieved a particular position at work or that you had a successful whole life?

A few people who come to see me are at a stage in their lives where the external work generated view of success is not enough for them. They have either stopped getting fulfilment from it or are disappointed with the reality of the top of the ladder and want to explore a far wider view of success, a more balanced reality.

And as I tell them the good news is that YOU get to define what success is in your life, because it is just that, YOUR life. If success looks different to you then embrace that difference, but the challenge for many of us is that you have to believe that it compares equally. Fulfilment comes in all sorts of different shapes and sizes, but awareness of what fulfilment is for you is the starting point.

So if you decide to stay at home to raise your children for a period of time, or for always and that is your idea of a successful/ fulfilled life then please please please don't label yourself "just a mum" or "just a dad." It is anything other than 'just,' it is what fulfils you and should be labelled accordingly.

Success in life looks different for everyone. What does success look like for you? 
If you want to know more about how to work out what your fulfilled life looks like drop me a line?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The here and now, living in it

I am currently reading a book about presence... being present in the here and now and transcending our physical being into our spiritual being through retreats and other such malarky! What a waste of paper, I feel guilty about the tree which created this book! Unfortunately (or fortunately) most of us cannot afford the time and or cash to head out on a month long retreat to find our inner selves and to be honest the experience may fill our souls with wonder but it is short lived when we return to our here and now and our general lives. It is more important to find 'presence' in our existing lives, our realities rather than head off into the ether to discover it. If you suffer from living in the future, constantly striving, making no time for yourself in the now, please consider the following time effective but real ways to wake up to the now. Sit for 2 mins and focus on your breathing or your heart rate- nothing else- and if thoughts come into your head tell them yo...

What 10 things do you do well?

We are generally very good at knowing what we need to do better but very very bad at being able to say we do something well. "I should do more exercise."  "I could communicate more."  "I need to get better at time management."  "I should work on my presentation skills." "I need/ should (add your own in here!!!) It is time to put a different perspective on it. After all you didn't get to the ripe old age of (add here whatever age you feel like being), without managing to do some things well, the tricky part is being able to articulate what they are. So grab that coffee, find somewhere quiet and write down/think of 10 things you do well, just 10. Oh and fight the temptation to be glib, so 'I am good at being on facebook' doesn't count, but 'I am good at keeping in touch with people' does! The reality is that remembering and stating what we are good at is much harder than it sounds. We spend most of our time in the ...

A well worn path

 My challenge for the here and now is to take note of 3 things as you go about your day to day activities. Things you see everyday but pay no attention to: a beautiful set of stairs travelled up and down by generations of people all set about their own day to day; a century old tree who has cast shade on your route for decades; or a children's book which sits on the bookcase now collecting dust and when you notice them think about the value they give/ have given to you. It is incredible to think that in each day we follow the same path, be that on foot, in the car or through habit but often fail to appreciate the very things that make the path smoother. For those of you who like an even greater challenge pick a significant person and notice some of the 'overlooked' traits they possess, think about how those traits positively impact on your journey and if you are feeling really brave you could even tell them. Go on, it won't hurt that much.