Measuring Success

I bet you have read just as much as I have, if not more, about being and/or measuring ones success. My reading on the subject has ranged from success is the gateway to destruction. To the only way to live life is to be as successful as you can be. But just what is success and how should we achieve it? 

 Personally, I'm kinda torn between the two lines of thought I mentioned above. Where you do your best but remember success isn't everything. I guess I could end my discussion on that note and say we're done. But somehow that train of thought seems incomplete.

 For someone who publicly struggles with inner demons as I do. To simply say do your best and provide for those you love, may seem simple enough to do. But with the inner struggles of doubt, fear, and inadequacy, even the simplest of philosophies get bogged down in an unending ocean of self deprecation.

Recently I was introduced to Impostor Syndrome a condition where a person may seem successful on the outside, yet inward feel they are total failures. That despite any success they achieved, they feel that at some point "the jig is up" and that "the other shoe will eventually drop" on their success. I learned this problem is greatest among women, graduate students, and surprisingly enough entrepreneurs. 

 While we all have had moments of doubt about our abilities, for some this can be chronic and even crippling. To say I suffer from this, to be honest, while I show a lot the symptoms, no professional has said I have it.   

 Which brings us back to measuring success. From my years of living and having seen success and failure, I would say, success is what you make it. As an example, my parents may not have looked very successful. I mean they didn't really leave many worldly goods to me or my siblings. Yet what they did leave us was a good head on our shoulders, a decent sense of who we are, and the ability not to take ourselves too seriously. Now that I'd call successful.

 So rather you have a nice office in downtown Atlanta or live in the backroom of our start up business. Success is what you make it. As long as you walk the journey mindfully and stay present as you go. Be true to who you are and don't be afraid to dream. But most importantly, do what feels right for you, you are the only person that can define your success.

 For more information on Imposter Syndrome here are some links:

 Inc Magazine article on Impostor Syndrome

Forbes Magazine article on Impostor Syndrome

Article on Impostor Syndrome from Psychology Today

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