How do you Measure Success?

I bet when you were little your parents told you they wanted you to be successful. Perhaps your parents told you what they thought your success would look like.

I have a friend Jennifer. Her parents had her life picked out for her. Ever since she was little Jennifer's parents wanted her to be a doctor. Jennifer's parents had good reasons for this. They wanted Jennifer to be self supporting. They also thought medicine was a noble profession.

Jennifer was smart. She had the aptitude to be a doctor. When she was little she enjoyed the idea of being a doctor. However, as she got older the idea of being a doctor was losing it's appeal. Despite this nagging feeling Jennifer plugged on through college and medical school. She wanted to please her parents. She wanted her parents to be proud of her. She did not want to disappoint her parents. Jennifer wanted to be successful.

Jennifer worked as a doctor for a few years. But her heart was not in it. It was not what she wanted to do. It was not her idea of what being successful was.

At some point Jennifer stopped practicing medicine. She opened up her own business. Her idea of success was to educate people. She wanted to educate people so they could avoid visiting a doctor. She wanted to teach people about living a healthy life. This was her idea of success.

Before you embark on your long road to success take some time to think about what success means to you. Try to separate your ideas from the ideas of success you encounter every day. These ideas of success are everywhere. They are on TV, the news, in schools, almost any place you encounter. What about your friends, parents, counselors. They all have ideas about success and what it should be for you. It is okay to be open to what they have to say. They may spark an idea.

But you must make the final decision about what success means to you. Remember that is okay to change your mind about what success means to you. When you are young success can mean something different than when you are older. Your idea of success can be a living, evolving concept. You can pursue your idea of success and re work it if it is not what you expected. Whatever path you choose remember to respect yourself and your choices. Choose wisely but make the choice yours.

Marcia, Your Confidence Coach