Take the time: make up your own definition

Sounds great doesn’t it “I have the ability to make up my own definition of success!”

Then comes the how do I do that? doubt.  Since your success definition is your own, no one else can tell you what it is or how to create it. The following are resources you can use, discard, or never even consider.

I live by the Chinese Buffet Theory of life, the best thing is that there are lots of choices:

• some you know you like and take a big helping
• others you know you don’t like and pass them by
• different options you have never tried, so take a small portion
• somethings never make it to the taste test at all

One of my coaches, Anne Trauben of Whole Health, used a list that helped me out when I was working to create change in my own life & career, so I’ll share it with you:

1. my strengths are…
   personally I love the books and assessment tool StrengthsFinder to help figure this out, because it takes into consideration NOT only what we are good at, but what we are drawn to doing.
2. my values are…
   some of you may have played this game before. It is a tool that drives you toward a choice of your 5 top values PLUS writing your own definition which I personally love (because how I define Wisdom and what you think of it as may not be the same).
3. my positive beliefs are…
   start each statement with “I believe that….” and insert something about yourself that deep down you believe about yourself. NOTE: it says “positive”, so throw away that negative self talk it has too much power over you already.
4. my motivators are…
   these are the reasons for the change you are looking for. What is going to drive you to continue doing the work to reach your definition?

I know, I know – but Lynn this stuff doesn’t even start to define what success is for me. What it will do is help you create that definition.

Depending on how you learn, hopefully one of the following ideas will resonate (yup I’m auditory) with you:

Visual (seeing and reading) – How does success look to you? Imagine you are sitting at a cafe having a drink, what’s your view of the world from success? What do you notice about yourself and the world around you? What vision drives you?

Auditory (listening and speaking) – How do you articulate what success is when someone asks you to remark on it? What five things would you say about your life and career? What events would proclaim your success?

Kinetics (touching and doing) – How do you feel when you’re successful? What solid, concrete beliefs do you have about yourself? What are you doing with your success?

Now take the time to write it all out, or record it, or make a collage that defines it. It would be a shame to reach success and miss it because you hadn’t decided what it was for yourself!