Success?
i've been thinking a lot recently about what constitutes "success" much of this comes from my work situation, where I had had some upward mobility, but became increasingly unhappy with the nature of the job, the subsequent unemployment to take care of the baby, and now working as a temp in what is a fairly dead-end position (understandably for a temp job.) so needless to say when it comes to the employment world i find myself to be far from a success. Especaily because I know so many people who are seemingly in jobs that they find to be interesting and challenging. Certainly my parents in some senses have inadvertently set an impossibly high bar- both had jobs that they more or less enjoyed, and they were able to have long term careers with one employer. meanwhile I have ripped through two careers, and three employers in 12 years, and still am completely unsure what I want to do with myself.
yet really with the exception of work/employment, I think I have led a very successful life- married, fatherhood, homeowner, and very happy with all of those choices.
anyhow, it too often seems to me that I (and many people) too often define success by employment statuts, and happiness with-in our employment. so how do I either 1) learn to like what I do, no matter what it may be 2) find a job that is naturally 'fulfilling' or 3) learn to let the stress on employment as a measure of success drop to the bottom of the list???
yet really with the exception of work/employment, I think I have led a very successful life- married, fatherhood, homeowner, and very happy with all of those choices.
anyhow, it too often seems to me that I (and many people) too often define success by employment statuts, and happiness with-in our employment. so how do I either 1) learn to like what I do, no matter what it may be 2) find a job that is naturally 'fulfilling' or 3) learn to let the stress on employment as a measure of success drop to the bottom of the list???
posted by Eric at 7:34 AM
2 Comments:
I sympathize with your condition. I felt the same way and it's part of the reason I'm back in school in Michigan. I'm not sure if this will be the right answer, I oscillate back and forth between thinking it was a good idea and thinking it was a mistake (especially when I think about the costs - financial, emotional, etc.)
I agree strongly that how we envision and define success personally is an important part of what we believe success to be. The thing I struggle with most is the cycle between hoping for sucess and the efforts needed to achieve it. I'm not looking for it to be easy, but sometimes the road seems awfully long.
Another problem I've encountered is that there are too many things to be successful at. The magnificent multifariousness of the world continuously amazes me. There is an overabundance of things to do, see, and experience. Any one of which could lead to success.
I also struggle with the cycle, and for the same reasons. I don't want it to come cheap, but I don't it to be so dear that I never seem to make it. I think for me, the biggest challenge is trying to divorce my primary feelings of being successful from my employment status. I suppose if I ever get into a job that is a calling, and not just a paycheck I can revisit the issue, but right now I want to find a way to feel successful, regardless of work- but boy oh boy is that hard.
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