“I know there’s a difference between being successful and feeling successful. And if you ask me if I feel successful, the honest answer is ‘not yet.’ ~Simon Sinek
The paradigm of the past—the trade of time and expertise for money and position—is in the last stages of the death cycle. Making more money is no longer the measure of success; money, prestige, and power are shape shifting into autonomy, purpose and meaning.
In his brilliant book, Drive, author Daniel Pink addressed these timely topics in our turbulent world. I’ve recommended this book to many, many people, as well as the brilliant white board summary of it which is worth the 10 minutes it takes to watch it.
The baby-boomers (myself included) were raised in a time when instant communication didn’t exist, really, until the 60′s and the advent of TV live coverage of news events. Baby-boomers’ parents’ came home for dinner. And they didn’t have Blackberries or cell phones.
The trade of money-for-work worked because you could also have a life after 6:00 pm. Not so today.
Today, we’re so “connected” to the world, with the demands on our time increasing exponentially, that we have become increasingly “disconnected” from our families and ourselves.
Success is no longer about how much one owns, earns, or spends, the skewed messages of certain celebrities not withstanding.
Working for only more money, in study after well-researched study, finds a diminishing return on time investment; after $75,000 per year people would rather be paid in different ways. Success is now being defined by the 20 and 30-somethings as work-from-home, job-sharing, or ROWE workplaces.
There will never be enough “stuff” on the outside to validate yourself until you feel successful on the inside.
Success: another small word with an infinite number of interpretations. The question becomes, have you figured out what you require in your life in order to feel successful?
Most people I know end up saying the same thing; that if their children turned out healthy and happy, doing work they enjoy, they’d consider themselves successful.
Not a bad measurement stick.
But until you decide for yourself what the word means (as well as the concept it encapsulates) it’s difficult to feel successful.
And that’s what “success” is supposed to be about: feeling good about yourself.
