1. Success is not fixed or finite.
Nor is it even singularly defined. True success is less an object to be achieved or a goal to be conquered, than it is the how and the why of the pursuit.
Success is a journey, not a destination.
The doing is often more important than the outcome.
Arthur Ashe
Look at those we hail as success stories. They are not one and done. They are individuals, organizations, corporations, countries, continually striving to contribute their gifts in an intentional and meaningful way.
For all my clients, the key is envisioning their journey. Beginning with recognizing what they’ve achieved and identifying the talents they possess, we craft a path of pursuit that capitalizes on that foundation and ignites the passions that inspire them.
2. Success is resilience and reinvention.
For many of my clients, transition is the prompt for seeking counsel. From the displaced employee to the experienced professional seeking the next challenge to the individual returning to the workforce after years of caretaking, they are looking to make their experience matter.
Seeing ourselves and our expertise clearly is not often as simple as it seems, particularly in the context of an increasingly complex marketplace. Getting beyond the roles we’ve traditionally used to define ourselves can be daunting but also liberating. The joy of my work is best illustrated in that look clients get when they glimpse a new possibility that resonates with their spirit.
Without continual growth and progress,
such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.
Benjamin Franklin
3. Success is living in alignment with our values and purpose.
This is where things can get tricky. I’ve often had clients who have significant accomplishments in a field, yet find the recognition in that role taxing rather than energizing. We may have gifts, talents and skills that set us up to perform expertly in areas outside of our passion. Do we forgo those to pursue what truly calls our spirit? Yes. And No.
Don’t aim for success if you want it;
just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally.
David Frost
While many can find balance in a singular career, for others it’s created when they partner with vocation. Often our work can fuel and fund the exploration of our passions. The picture of ultimate success is a mosaic of experience and opportunity. When clients can see that their pursuits need not weave into one composition, one career, but can exist side by side reflecting one another, the pressure is off and the pleasure begins.
Knowing you are in that right place is internally determined. No external gauge can calibrate intention. No external endpoint can validate the process of pursuit. Success can be found in those moments when we recognize that where we are and what we are doing clearly aligns with our sense of value and purpose.