Blog

By Susan Klein, MCC.

“Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.” -- Maya Angelou, poet

Our current environment requires that we re-examine everything we thought about what it takes to be successful, what success actually means, who is successful and who isn't. In the past, I may have defined success having to do with a career that generates lots of money, or prestige, a title, or achieving all my goals.

What success isn't: working 60, 70 hours a week. It isn't success only if everyone knows it. It is not about not making mistakes. It isn't a goal. It isn't about not accepting help along the way. It's not about having all your troubles over when you get there.

Not anymore. Now I look at success as a state of mind. When you can see it as a state of mind, not just an outcome, any moment can be a victory. Here are some moments that I consider success:

• Raising confident kids
• Bouncing back after a failure
• Winning a tough case
• Staying focused
• Accepting your looks (including your hair)
• Staying optimistic, no matter what
• Mastering the social networking
• Finding work you love
• Losing the last 10 pounds
• Mastering the impossible
• Having a client get a “win”

Mostly, success is doing what you love and getting paid for it, and having a high quality of life along the way. (Included is also being in integrity, holding to high standards, setting goals that are my self- expression and honoring my values.)

Look at what Marilyn says about her success.

After 25 years as a successful Hewlett Packard executive, she has taken a major step toward aligning her goals with her needs and Tru-Values and has bought a business that provides supplemental education services to elementary and secondary school students. “It's amazing how things are working out. Things are just falling into place. My clients and employees relate story after story about the positive impact Huntington is having on their child's success, self-esteem and the family unit. What a wonderful business. I am having a great time.”

Or Daphne, who after being laid off from a corporation that went bankrupt, decided maybe it was really time to start her own marketing, writing and editing business, with a home office. After researching computers, this is what life was like, according to Daphne. (paraphrased version):

Day 2:  Order the perfect laptop by phone; model out of stock, long wait. Order an equally perfect laptop available in 5-7 days.

Day 3:  Having a home office means clutter clearing. Target location: my eat-in kitchen, in which I rarely eat. Bonus — has a long table and phone jack, don't have to buy furniture.

Day 4:  Extend the clutter cleaning to the hallway to make room for arriving boxes.

Day 6:  Cancel DSL and find better provider. Purchase virus-scanning, utilities, Internet security software.

Day 8:  Laptop arrives, set-up. Evening-on the phone (forever) to correct errors in set-up of DSL services (Get really good at computer's pinball game while sitting on hold listening to their continuous loop of Star Wars, James Bond and Superman).

Day 10:  Get on-line, at last. Install printer. Wow -- color printing in my own kitchen, must figure out how to fax.

Day 11:  Get some sleep. Refine whole set-up: add a keyboard, upgrade mouse, find old zip drive, learn to fax . . . and do I need a better chair?”

Aligning your goals with your needs and values. Doing what you love and allows for self-expression. How do you define your success?