I’ve been thinking a lot about success lately.
First and foremost, because while all of us, including myself, want to be “successful,”
I don’t quite vibe with the word.
So I was looking for a different way to talk about success when it comes to career.
I’d much rather say that I want to be happy and fulfilled.
And yes, I also want to be well off financially and achieve certain goals. But all these eventually end up making me feel fulfilled.
How about you?
Where to start to be fulfilled at work?
I think that for everyone who’s looking to find more fulfillment (/success) in their career and ultimately in their life, it’s important to take an honest look at what that truly means to you.
1. Be specific about what you want.
Don’t use airy-fairy words but feelings or visuals and even sounds. Be really specific.
- Which term would you use to describe a great career & life?
- How would your life look and feel like?
- How would your days look like and feel like?
Ultimately, I think you need to define what success means to you because if you go for another person’s idea of success, you can only fail.
Do you agree?
2. Develop your pillars.
When looking for a successful and fulfilling career that makes you happy, I think it’s essential to develop core pillars for yourself.
My 3 main pillars are: connection, creativity, and freedom.
The interesting part is that you’ll mostly find that various paths or careers are actually able to fulfill your needs.
Back in the days, in my corporate job, I was “successful,” climbing the corporate ladder and having a great salary, but I wasn’t very happy.
I had a lot of meaningful connection, but I wasn’t able to use my creativity. I was also supposed to be on-site 5 days a week, so I missed that freedom and flexibility.
I found all of my pillars in my own business, but I could have just as well switched to a more progressive company or slightly changed my position to find what I was looking for.
I have a lot of friends who are very happy in their corporate jobs. I don’t think that there’s a one size fits all.
It doesn’t need to be all black and white, and you can find your pillars, happiness, and fulfillment in various settings.
3. Focus on your strengths.
I believe that, in order to find true fulfillment and happiness, you need to get to know yourself, your strengths, and honor who you are.
Especially as introverts, we’re often trying to be someone we’re not. More outgoing, more assertive. Less quiet, less thoughtful, and so on.
I think that our true superpowers lie in our strengths.
When developing these, it’s usually not only a lot easier for us to excel in one area but also a lot more fulfilling than when we’re trying to patch up our weaknesses.
When it comes to our introversion, a couple of pronounced strengths are usually the ability to create meaningful relationships and to be good listeners.
When used well, both are valuable strengths in any career.