Defining Success Your Way!

In my career advising practice, I often find that my clients are not clear about what success means for them. Our society defines success primarily around three elements: power, money and fame. Many of you reading this may be saying, "wait a minute ?those elements are not the most important things to me." Success is often intangible. It's certainly unique to each person. Have you considered how you will know when you are successful?

For one of my current clients, a definition of success is having autonomy in her work. She wants to set her own goals and direct her own activities. She's considering part-time consulting work as a transition to her success. Another client defines success as a satisfying family and personal life ? she's looking for work that allows her flexible hours and telecommuting days.

In her book, "If Success is a Game, These Are the Rules", Cherie Carter-Scott gives several examples of success:

? financial terms ? enough to retire by 50 or to buy a cabin in the woods
? emotional fulfillment and stability ? a harmonious family life
? glory ? athletic accomplishments
? courage ? overcoming a serious illness or tragedy
? making a difference ? change people's life in a positive way
? accumulation of knowledge and understanding

Can you come up with 3 ways to measure success for yourself? Remember, there is not a universal standard or "right" definition of success. Define what's truly important to you. Once you've figured out what success means to you, you can realign your life, goals, and relationships around these priorities.

A great way to start the process of defining success is to complete these sentences:

The people I view as successful are?.
I feel successful when?..
My symbols of success are?.
I will feel like a success when I?.

You'll need to work with your statements until they feel or sound just right. Once you've defined success, start taking action to reach it. Set powerful goals and get the support you need to reach them. Expect and learn how to cope with barriers such as fear of change, your "yeah buts" and fear of identity change.

Success is a process that never ends. As you reach the height of one goal you'll see another mountaintop you'll want to climb. Along the way, don't forget to appreciate what you already have and to celebrate each small accomplishment that leads to the grand prize!

Ann Ronan, Ph.D., Certified Career Advisor, works with professionals in career transition. HER MOST POPULAR SERVICE: A "One-Shot to UnStuck" meeting that gets to the root of ANY career problem and gives a practical plan to solve it.
--If you are stuck or frustrated in your career? you'll love this.
Call 909-717-1113 or ann@authenticlifeinstitute.com, www.authenticlifeinstitute.com

---

Finding Employees For Insurance Industry Jobs

Finding the right employee for any job opening can be a challenge to say the least, and this is no truer than in the insurance industry. With... Read More

Job Hunting: Its Still The First Impression Stupid!

In the 1992 USA Presidential election, political strategist James Carville hung a sign in Bill Clinton's Little Rock campaign office that read, "It's still the economy, stupid."... Read More

Building Performance Trust

You can have outstanding ideas, yet never leverage them into winning at working results. That's because the secret behind those ideas lies in performance. Yours.Getting the okay... Read More

10 Tips For Writing A Professional Résumé

1. Start with an attractive layout. Use bold and italics to highlight key points.I do not recommend downloadable templates because they are very generic and dull. Get... Read More

Strange Jobs Still Pay The Bills

Strange jobs? How do we define that? Years ago I stole cars as a repo-man, had some adventures as an investigative process-server, and even handed out samples... Read More

Is Your Job Search Guided by the Controller or the Controllee?

I'll define what I mean by these terms. "The Controller" is a job seeker that is ruled by doing everything right. He/she has read all of the... Read More

Sample Resume Objectives: What They All Tend To Miss

Sample resume objectives. When a harried and possibly panicked job seeker finds one he thinks is good, he feels like the drowning man who just got rescued.But... Read More

Growing Up On A Delaware Farm

Growing up on a Delaware farm was a wonderful and rewarding experience for me.I grew up in an area where a couple of dozen families in an... Read More

Should You Lie On Your Resume?

Warning: Lying on your resume could cost you your job and your freedom.Picture this. You're sitting at your desk working away happily at a company you've been... Read More

Dissatisfied With Your job? Stop Trying To Go It Alone!

Being dissatisfied with your job is a cycle, a very long and undesirable cycle. Here's how it goes:-You start to lose interest in your job. Next thing... Read More

Overwhelmed and Overworked: The Myth of American Productivity

Employment finally seemed back on track during the first few months of 2004. Politicians crowed that "Our tax cuts are working." Then, without warning, job growth slowed... Read More

Personal Grooming: 8 Top Reasons Why You Can?t Take It For Granted In Your Career

Most people when they landed "the dream job" after an interview or even got "the deal" of the lifetime in their businesses, sadly to say tend to... Read More

3 Ways To Succeed On Your First Job (Or Any Job)

You've heard the real estate cliché: the three factors that determine a property's value are location, location, location.Well, here's an instant cliché about creating value on the... Read More

During Midlife Change: Are You a Jumper or a Clinger?

Over the years, I have identified two kinds of midlife career changers: Jumpers and Clingers.Jumpers thrive on energy, enthusiasm and improbable luck. The last three times they... Read More

When All Is Not Well With Work

When all is not well with work, what do you do? Do you quickly get frustrated and feel discontent? Do you look at each situation as a... Read More

How To Pick The Best Career For You, Part 1

In Part One we'll look at how Positioning or "Coming to a Theater Near You" simplifies and expedites your employment hunt by reinforcing employer buy-in through justification... Read More

Are Your References Ready?

One of the most common forms of background check performed by companies hiring new employees is the reference check. They typically request that candidates provide them with... Read More

Losing A Career Can Feel Like Getting A Divorce

Most of us are aware that we need to grieve the death of a close friend, relative or favorite pet. We are beginning to learn that other... Read More

Be Prepared for the Unexpected

How long has it been since you last had to search for a new job? These days it's not at all unusual to change careers or jobs... Read More

Spiritual Practices Offer Peace and Acceptance

Facing career transitions and daily life challenges can leave us feeling lonely, stressed and anxious. How do we manage to deal with the financial and emotional stress... Read More

Consulting: A Different World

I won't say I have a vast array of knowledge as a consultant...collectively I've only been doing it about 8 years. However, there are some things that... Read More

Can You Actually Fail A Personality Quiz?

Q. I didn't get a job that I interviewed for. The employer told me that I had "failed" the personality quiz. How is that possible? Does this... Read More

Alert! An Over-50 Jobseeker Has Just Entered the Building

Interviewing Tips for the Older Job-seeking PopulationA red alert is probably melodramatic, but I'm sure jobseekers in this age bracket probably feel there is one. The bulk... Read More

Doing What You Love

What do you want to be when you grow up? I'm sure you were asked this question at least once when you were a youngster. When asked... Read More

Working On A Farm In Kent

Being a student, a person needs to look for summer jobs, to keep up with the expenses for school and fun activities. This task is not always... Read More

Mystery Shopping - An Excellent Part Time Job Or Additional Income Source

Though the name itself may seem a bit mysterious, the concept of mystery shopping is actually straightforward. Also referred to as secret shopping, performance evaluations, service checks... Read More