How Redefining Success Can Change Your Life and Work

I used to have a "successful" corporate career (based on the conventional definition of success). And yet, it didn't feel fulfilling or meaningful to me. That led me to question what success really is. I realised that the definition of success I had been pursuing didn't match my values or what mattered most to me in life and work. I came to the conclusion that carrying on in the direction I was heading was no longer an option. I wasn't willing to live and work that way any longer.

So I decided to create my own definition of success based on what mattered most to me, and to build my life and work around it.

My new mantra became:

It isn't success if it doesn't feel fulfilling and meaningful.

As a result, twenty years ago, I left my corporate career. I started my own business. Since then, I've lived in three countries, and I now call a beautiful island off the west coast of Canada home.

Today, I live and work in a way that feels fulfilling and meaningful. That's my definition of success. Don't get me wrong, it isn't perfect. Nor is perfect my goal. Fulfillment and meaning are. Life, work, and business are full of ups and downs, setbacks, curveballs, obstacles, challenges, good times, wins, failures, laughter, and tears. But through all of that, if overall it feels fulfilling and meaningful, that's success for me.

If you would like to create your own definition of success based on what matters most to you and start creating change to build every area of your life and work around it, here are a few steps to get started:

Step 1: Get clear on your top 5 core values. They are the foundation for building a life, career, or business that feels fulfilling and meaningful.

Step 2: Create a new definition of success for yourself based on your values and what matters most to you.

Step 3: picture what a "successful" life looks like for you if it was built on your own definition of success. What would an ordinary week look like? Write down your vision.

Step 4: Identify the changes you want to make based on that.

Step 5: Create a plan to start making change doable. Important note: you don't have to have the whole plan mapped out before you start. In fact, trying to do that often keeps people stuck. A lot of what you want or need to do will only become clear once you start moving forward.

Step 6: Identify the first few small steps to start moving forward. Take them. Keep breaking your plans and the changes you want to make into small steps.

Keep this in mind:

Making change doable is just an accumulation of small steps taken consistently and persistently until you get from where you are to where you want to be.

Step 7: ask yourself this: whose definition of success am I living and working by? Chances are, unless it is one you created yourself, it is someone else's. It could be society, your family, your peers, or the expectations that have conditioned you over the years. The question is, if it doesn't feel fulfilling and meaningful or what you want for the next chapter of your life, what are you going to do about it? Ultimately, it's about deciding if you want to live someone else's version of success or your own.

Have a go at these 7 steps and see what comes up for you.

The bottom line:

If you aren't designing life based on your own definition of success, you are leaving it to chance. And that is a hell of a gamble to take with your one and only life.