What Does Success Mean To You?

Growing up, most of us had dreams and plans for our future.

Those plans may change through the years, but having plans and dreams is an important part of being human. 

Many little boys dreamed of being an astronaut, baseball player or a fireman.  As a little girl, I dreamed of dancing in a broadway show and my friends dreamed of being movie stars and Ms. America.  As we grow up, our dreams take on more of a reality base, and we dream of creating a life in which we live in the place we love and provide for our families in the best way we can or just being happy, healthy and able to live the life we enjoy. Success means different things to each of us.

When we hear of someone being an “overnight success”, we may not know the twenty or thirty years that are behind their “overnight success”.  Success usually does not come overnight, it takes work.  Reaching your dream does not usually occur in one try.  As they say, “You must kiss a lot of frogs to find your prince”.  The main thing is that each of us does not give up on our dreams because of a few “set backs”.  Every set back teaches us something that we can do to improve.  That is why they say there is no such thing as failure.

If you are going to interview after interview and not getting the job offer, consider asking the employer to give you the honest truth about why you did not receive the offer.  You may find that it is some simple correction that you should make for the next interview.  You may find that you no longer have the right skills to perform the functions needed and might want to consider getting additional education.  You might find that the industry or businesses you are trying to reach are no longer as viable as before.  This might lead you to thinking about what industries or business would need your skills and talents.  If you ask most entertainers how many interviews or auditions they went to and were turned down, they will usually tell you that they had to go to many auditions in order to get their big break.  Each disappointment should help you prepare for the next opportunity.

When we were looking for our first house to buy, we had requirements that we wanted to meet.  It took over six months for us to finally find the house we wanted to buy.  There was always something that needed to be corrected in order to fit into our “dream home”.  It is the same way with building a business, getting the right job, finding the mate of your dreams or inventing something totally new. How many of us have seen those photos from the period of the Wright Brothers.  There were many, many failures before the first successful flight.  Imagine how our lives would be changed if the Wright Brothers had not persisted in creating the first airplane.   We may not have the dream of creating the first airplane or the best pizza ever eaten, but our dreams usually do involve creating a life that provides for ourselves, our families, or others in need.  These dreams are no less important to us than those of the Wright Brothers, Steve Jobs or the sandwich shop owner down the street.

Success is defined by each of us in our own way.  Success could be owning a major baseball league, discovering a new cure for a deadly virus or simply creating an income for ourselves that will sustain our lifestyle and give us a sense of accomplishment in our lives.  The ultimate success for most of us is to know that we have accomplished our goals in a way that provides meaning and comfort to ourselves and those we care about.

The first step in creating success is to define “What Does Success Mean To Me?”   Defining success gives you the criteria for creating your “Success Goals”.  You may want to accomplish many goals in your life, ask yourself what are these goals. Remember the movie, “The Bucket List”?  Creating a bucket list is a great idea.  A bucket list creates desired accomplishments for your future.  Create a bucket list for your career goals.

Recently I saw Jim Carey on Oprah, he wrote himself a post-dated check for $10,000 that he planned to pay himself for completing one of his movie career goals.  As I recall, he said that he had given himself a ten-year postdated check.  He said that he was able to reach the goal of cashing that check by the end of that ten-year period.  Wow— imagine the feeling of success that he must have felt that day when he was actually able to cash that check by reaching his movie career goal.

One of my goals was to be able to support myself as an entrepreneur and not actually have to “have a job”.  For many years now, I have been able to do just that.  However, when the economy changed, the level of success I had attained for that goal was affected.  I still have that same goal as my basic goal, but now because of experience, I have made adaptations to the original plan to fit today’s economy and my requirements for living in today’s world.

As we have discussed, today’s economy makes us all look differently at our previous choices for employment.  I hope you are taking into consideration the changes we have been experiencing and are re-evaluating your personal definition  of success today.  All we have to do today is watch the news and be aware of the changes around us to realize the importance of creating goals for our success that will work in today’s world.

I hope this has given you something to consider.  It might be wise for you to sit down and create your personal definition of success and what you feel are the important steps to take to create a successful career plan today.  Begin by writing the top ten things that would make you feel successful today.  Then make your personal plan to get you started on your path to your own SUCCESS. 

Knowing What Success Really Means To You Is How You Will Know When You Reach It!

Tags: Be a winner, career change, career interest inventory, career opportunity, career passion, career path, career plan, career success, new career, new life plan, plan for success, success