Hidden Brilliance by Katie Rasoul

Author:Katie Rasoul [Rasoul, Katie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Team Awesome, LLC
Published: 2018-03-30T04:00:00+00:00

How Do You Define Success?

When I first considered the question “What is your definition of success?” I was stuck. I asked, “What do you mean? Success as in, a day? A year? Ten years?” I realized in that moment that how I was defining success was part of my problem. I thought success to me was getting bigger, better, and further. And my efforts were matching that. However, when I found how I really defined success, I was no longer allocating my time and energy toward the things that mattered most to me.

If I really define the type of success for myself that would bring lasting, meaningful joy and fulfillment, it doesn’t have to do with climbing a career ladder, earning a bonus, or even slaying a big project at work. There is nothing wrong with those things – in fact, they feel great! I have simply found them to be short-lived wins for me. Sometimes we spend much of our lives, especially at work, accomplishing amazing successes yet somehow feel unfulfilled. Why is that? It is because we are expending energy on wins that don’t add up to the definition of success that really matters to us.

If you start with this one question, you will be asking yourself about something that has seemed so obvious to you that you haven’t even thought about it for a long time. Ask this question of yourself on the largest scale that you can muster, the type of success that lasts beyond the moment.

Nailed a project? Success! Got that promotion? Success! Didn’t eat the whole pint of ice cream in one sitting? Success! Of course, these are all wins. But if you looked back over the entire course of your life, what would you need to see in order to feel a deep level of success and fulfillment? If it is money, or title, or “the chase,” then great! No judgement here on the nobility of your definition of success. As long as you are honest with yourself about your true definition of success, you are on the right track. You can bring your new and clear definition to find fulfillment in what you are already doing, or to identify where to redirect your time and energy.

A principle called the Hedonic Treadmill (or Hedonic Adaptation) observes that humans eventually return to their baseline level of happiness following good or bad events. The happiness one experiences from a win or sorrow from a loss is often short-lived before returning to personal equilibrium. However, your baseline happiness level may grow as personal successes raise the bar on your own expectations. As your expectations rise for yourself based on past accomplishments, your definition of success evolves. As your definition of success progresses, it is important to check yourself to ensure that definition still remains in line with your personal truth.

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