How do you define success?
- Is success the six or seven-figure income?
- Do you know you arrived with your first home?
- Is waking up in the morning your idea of success?
Are you sure your definition of success is your definition?
A Merriam-Webster Moment
There is an interesting discussion going on in writers’ forum, About Writing Squared.
One writer friend asked the $100,000 question. She noticed a heightened discussion about earning $100,000 as the benchmark for successful freelance writers.
- For some writers, the figure is their new goal
- For others, they proudly claim that achievement
The question is ~
Is there merit to the $100,000 goal?
Defining Moments
The discussion quickly became personal.
Few responded that having the $100K goal was a bad thing. What they did object to was the notion that someone else’s goal should be our goal.
Goals are personal. Too often, we let someone else define success – even in some of the most inconsequential areas of our lives.
- Fashion
- The car we drive
- Our income bracket
I remember when I reached the $100k goal in my corporate life. It was a big deal for me at the time.
Years later when I was still earning six figures, my life was a mess. I was unhealthy, stressed, and the Grim Reaper seemed destined for an early visit.
Had my definition of success been wrong?
Not necessarily. Perhaps success simply took on a new definition.
If we never redefine success or adopt our own meaning,
is that living?
Success for me is doing what I love and being loved – and as I write this I realize something else – success is helping others.
Not by thrusting my definition of success on them, but rather helping them discover their own.
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Live…Laugh…Love
UPDATE: My friend, Lori Widmer, has outed herself as the creator of the $100,000 question. You can view her thoughts at her blog, Words on the Page, a freelance writing resource.
You can also read Anne Wayman’s (who owns the Forum) take on the topic.
Good post, Cathy. Love the discussion, both online and offline, that we’ve had over this.
I think if it’s a goal you’ve planned for, go for it. If it’s one you’ll kill yourself to attain, ask yourself why you’d want to. What I don’t like is how some freelancers tend to use it as the measurement of true success. Maybe for them, but is it really a measurement I want to use?
I love your definition. It’s true for you. That’s what we should strive for, in my opinion — definitions that fit us, not everyone.
Thanks, Lori – both for the comment and the inspiration. 😉 I like to think I get a bit smarter the older I get, but that could be wishful thinking. 😀