Am I Successful in My Work?

I think we should all ask ourselves the quintessential working-stiff’s question: am I successful in my work?

How on EARTH do you answer that question?

You sure as heck aren’t going to find your answer in your boss’ evaluation.  Yearly evaluations…I don’t even know where to start with that concept.  I don’t know about any of you, but the only “real” year is the 360-something days it takes the Earth to revolve around the Sun.  Even that year is flaky.  The idea that what I do at work somehow begins and ends on a date on a calendar…wow.  Who was the first guy to think THAT one up?  Thanks, dude.  Whoever you were.

You aren’t going to find it in a metric.  You aren’t going to find it in a stat.  You aren’t going to find it in any mathematical equation or objective measurement.  Existence and reality are not objective, so why should a concept as esoteric as being “good” at something be objective?  It’s subjective.  By definition, anything that is subjective is completely dependent on the interpretation of the observer, the reporter, and the audience.  Sometimes, they are all the same person.  That makes evaluation a little less complicated.  But even that is screwy.  Think about how hard we are on ourselves.  Think about how irrational we are when we evaluate our own work.  No critic is as harsh as the one in the mirror, no?

If we are to measure our worth in terms of the amount of revenue we generate…well, let’s just say that we don’t have to look to far to see how crappy a criteria THAT is.

So, how do we determine how successful we are at our work?  I can offer only one approach: measurement against goals.  And I’m not talking about somebody else’s goals.  You know the saying: liars always figure and figures always lie.  By all means, meet the objectives your employer sets before you.  That’s a good way to keep your job.  Well, at least it helps.  But, in addition to those goals, set your OWN goals.  Set goals that are personal, that mean something to you.  There are many tools out there that can help you figure out how to set and track goals.  Marcus Buckingham’s books come to mind; “Now, Discover Your Strengths” and “Go Put Your Strengths to Work” are just two.  There’s also www.bestyearyet.com.  The first round is free, but you have to pay for the rest of the package.  The free part is good, though, because it gets to the root of where I am going with this: figure out what makes you tick.

If you can figure out what makes you tick…what motivates you to do what you do…then you are on to something.  You’ll be headed down the path to personal empowerment and freedom if you can dig deep and find the source of your joy.  I know…it sounds cheesy.  It is cheesy.  But it is also true.  You may find your answer quickly; you may spend the rest of your life looking for your answer.  Regardless, taking that first step changes everything.  I promise.  Oh, the process of self-discovery can be painful.  It can be ugly.  It can be…discouraging, to say the least.  But when you begin to align what puts food on your table with what puts joy in your heart (even a hint of it), you are on the path to living a much more fulfilling, much more peaceful life.  

And every last person on this planet, on some level, wants to live a peaceful life.  All of us who can pursue a peaceful life owe it to all of those who believe that they cannot live in peace to find that path for ourselves.  Find your path, share your joy, and inspire at least one other person to find their own true path to joy and peace.

That is how I measure success in my work.