The role of defining your own vision of success in achieving it

To achieve success do you need to define it first?

The answer is a resounding yes.

If you expect that if you keep working success will just come, how will you know when you achieve it?  To celebrate the moment you need to have a clear vision of what success will look, feel and sound like for you.

We think that in order to measure success we need to have clearly defined targets or KPI’s and in some cases this is true.  What this does assume is that success is a hard metric, some physical thing that is easily measurable.

What happens if we are talking about success in terms of impact, contribution, or how we feel on a day-to-day basis?  How important is building relationships and developing others to your version of success?

What you are being measured against in your role, does not mirror what success means to you.  It is only one part of what makes us successful and we can get caught up forgetting who we are as a person.

Yes, life is easier when you are reaching your work targets, and striving to achieve that is something we should want to do in our roles.  How important is developing yourself and others to reach their full potential, giving feedback that has an impact on people and mentoring and coaching, to who you want to be?  These can all be game changers for you as a leader and the people around you.  How are you measuring these?

The most fulfilling way to define your version of success is to base it on who you want to be as a leader and as a person. 

Identify what is truly important, and then you get to define how you want to measure that.

Measuring can be the frequency you get to spend time on a certain hobby, self development project, or a personal goal, the frequency or depth that you experience a certain feeling, the quality of your relationships and the time you spend with people or being in the moment (managing mental load).

These are all key components of what success can look like.

The thing is you are in charge.  You get to decide.

If you do not have a clear vision of what success looks like for you or its sitting in your head and not written down, its time to sit down and do the work.

Your vision of success is your own roadmap that outlines what is most important to you and shows you how to get there.  It helps you know where to put your focus and energy and eliminate distractions.  Having a vision of success supports you to keep looking forward whilst having your eye on the prize, whatever that looks like for you.

Just make sure that as you achieve your vision, you take the time to celebrate the moment.