How does one measure success? I don't think anyone can measure it unless you define what kind of success you're trying to attain.
Financial success?
Professional success?
Personal success?
Financial success is easy, are you making or breaking the bank? Are you in the black or do you swim in a sea of red that even the Titanic would be jealous of? If you're in the black, by how much? At what point do you draw the line at having too much or not enough? Financial success is attained when you have a goal, meet or exceed it and then become satisfied with the results...satisfied isn't the right word, content...there we go.
Professional success...here's where it gets tricky, as climbing the Corporate Ladder isn't how the world works anymore. I like to see it as a Corporate Tree, starting off at the trunk (the intial stop by Personnel or Human Resources)...everyone, no matter how big or small started right here...sitting in the exact same chair and throwing out a fake smile that would eventually be taken via photo and laminated onto a small security badge with an italicized name in Comic Sans font. You go off on your own, generally with a few other branches who are headed in the same direction but as the path continues it starts to move in a different path...the gravity of the other branches starts to change where they go, the responsibility of kids, the limitations of marriage and family that drags them off the optimal path and into a life in the middle. The branch splits into several other smaller branches, small promotions or transfers, finding your experience and potential locked into a niche that binds you to a desk that can't be moved for fear of the system you support shutting down. Some branches move out a little further into the sun, nurtured by opportunity and hard work...eventually you get to the end of that branch, a silent ledge where you can stop and look back at all the choices you've made to get you to where you are now... This is the life of the corporate tree...and eventually, someone comes along and cuts you off, giving room for another branch...and the tree will miss you only for a moment until it sees what will come of your replacement.
I think personal success is the hardest to measure, as you constantly change your perspective and your outlook on life. One is rarely content in a constant world of change, everyone could be doing better and when we look at our situations we always say "Hey, it could be worse." I think you just need to look back to when you were a kid and what you wanted to do when you grew up...it was startling to me when I realized that I wanted to play video games. I had almost a dejavu moment where I was looking at a screen I didn't understand, at a game I didn't recognize...and I was playing it like a bad ass...I realized then and there that I had become the coolest guy in the world, by the level of success I set for myself when I was a kid. Think honestly for a moment...would your childlike self think that you're cool today?
Financial success?
Professional success?
Personal success?
Financial success is easy, are you making or breaking the bank? Are you in the black or do you swim in a sea of red that even the Titanic would be jealous of? If you're in the black, by how much? At what point do you draw the line at having too much or not enough? Financial success is attained when you have a goal, meet or exceed it and then become satisfied with the results...satisfied isn't the right word, content...there we go.
Professional success...here's where it gets tricky, as climbing the Corporate Ladder isn't how the world works anymore. I like to see it as a Corporate Tree, starting off at the trunk (the intial stop by Personnel or Human Resources)...everyone, no matter how big or small started right here...sitting in the exact same chair and throwing out a fake smile that would eventually be taken via photo and laminated onto a small security badge with an italicized name in Comic Sans font. You go off on your own, generally with a few other branches who are headed in the same direction but as the path continues it starts to move in a different path...the gravity of the other branches starts to change where they go, the responsibility of kids, the limitations of marriage and family that drags them off the optimal path and into a life in the middle. The branch splits into several other smaller branches, small promotions or transfers, finding your experience and potential locked into a niche that binds you to a desk that can't be moved for fear of the system you support shutting down. Some branches move out a little further into the sun, nurtured by opportunity and hard work...eventually you get to the end of that branch, a silent ledge where you can stop and look back at all the choices you've made to get you to where you are now... This is the life of the corporate tree...and eventually, someone comes along and cuts you off, giving room for another branch...and the tree will miss you only for a moment until it sees what will come of your replacement.
I think personal success is the hardest to measure, as you constantly change your perspective and your outlook on life. One is rarely content in a constant world of change, everyone could be doing better and when we look at our situations we always say "Hey, it could be worse." I think you just need to look back to when you were a kid and what you wanted to do when you grew up...it was startling to me when I realized that I wanted to play video games. I had almost a dejavu moment where I was looking at a screen I didn't understand, at a game I didn't recognize...and I was playing it like a bad ass...I realized then and there that I had become the coolest guy in the world, by the level of success I set for myself when I was a kid. Think honestly for a moment...would your childlike self think that you're cool today?
