This was kind of an interesting topic that one of my friends brought up as he described his definition on what success would look like. For him, his immediate answer was if he made a lot of money. In my opinion, I personally think answers like that are a bit too specific in an instant gratification way which kind of prevents one from fully achieving what they are really after. The end result that I usually see is that once they acquire that one thing they are lost again as something is still missing.
I then asked how money could be his answer as I think it is a bit too specific. He then mentioned that money could buy him almost anything which would allow him to be able to live without too much worry. With that, I mentioned how wouldn’t it sound more logical where his definition of success is to be able to enjoy life? When you think about it, being able to enjoy life for him would automatically mean having more than enough money in his ideal scenario and so focusing on that as oppose to just money could bring him wealth in more ways than one. That kind of got him thinking.
I guess my personal definition of success in life would be more along the lines of being able to fully utilize your skills and presence to help make a difference. My definition is more broad which I believe is good as it doesn’t limit myself on what I can and can’t achieve. At the same time, remaining focus on that particular value naturally brings whatever it is I need to accomplish that goal in helping to make a difference. Basically, thinking things in a broader perspective can definitely help.
As an example of thinking things more broadly, I remember one example before where there were a few people who were unhappy with their performance on a certain task. They felt that they were a failure compared to everyone else even though there wasn’t exactly any kind of pressure for say one guy to outperform the other. The most common thing that people would do is immediately focus in trying to help them become technically better to help make them feel better. In my opinion, while it would make sense to do that, I think that only solves a small piece of the real issue which will come up again in a different form.
Instead, thinking things in a broader way I recognized that they obviously felt like an outsider to the rest of team, which in my opinion was the real issue. Basically, the goal is re-arranged a bit where instead the focus is to help make them feel better about themselves and the environment they are in. By addressing the issue with that perspective, more ideas were implemented such as encouraging more interaction between everyone within the group. This actually made them more confident about themselves and their role. Guess what? They naturally started to perform better and not just for that task, but rather their whole working attitude in general.
So while I’m sure everyone’s definition of success in life is different as we all have our own goals and values, I just think that you shouldn’t limit your definition to clearing a particular obstacle in your life but rather to accomplish a purpose. It’s always interesting to hear other people’s perspectives too.
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