Success vs. Achievement

Success assumes achievement at something. Achievement, however, does not necessarily equate to success. An achievement is simply something you have undertaken to perform and have completed – an action. It is not a success unless that achievement is attached to a personal value or belief that defines it as a success. To validate that statement consider a job promotion in a job or career that you care little about. To be promoted is an achievement to be sure – however there is little feeling of success after that initial excitement wears off. Take it one step further…look back over your life at all your achievements then consider how successful you consider yourself to be in your life.

Fulfilment does not come from achievement, it comes from success; a combination of achievement of something that you value, belief in, alignment with ‘who you are’. Then how do you ensure fulfilment? You must understand your values, beliefs, understand who you are as a human being. All the great people from history Aristotle, Da Vinci, Einstein, Martin Luther King, Muhammad Ali…..they all knew who they were and what was important to them. Without that they would not have achieved what they did and by their own account lead successful lives. Consider how you define success and achievement…..we speak of success when it aligns with our values and interests. Achievement is simply the completion of a task.

The next step is to find out who you really are. This by itself is not the easiest thing to do because you need to somehow validate your findings/results. There are a number of assessments, namely Myer Briggs, SSI, etc that provide you with answers covering your personality, career and personal interests. It is also explored from trial and error. It is not the results of the assessments themselves that are most important, rather that it provides you with a starting place from which you can validate and assess the results. From this stage, as you consider the results your inward thinking allows for you to evolve your understanding of yourself, what is important and what you should prioritize in order to lead a fulfilled life. For example you may consider recognize that you’ve achieved much in your career but at the sacrifice of family not a success. On the other hand living a great life with a family might be defined as a successful life. It is common for a professional career coach to assist with this process as they will assist in exploring what is important to you, what it would mean for you to be experiencing a life of things you value and help you plan the necessary actions to achieve what it is you want.

Many of us achieve consistently but are never fulfilled because the achievements do not mean anything to them. We see people like that each day and wonder why they do not love their life or their achievements. It is because their achievement has not crossed across to success and thus fulfilment. All is not lost and it is never too late to reassess what is important to you. The two most important things you can do is; honour your life enough to want to make it as fulfilled as possible and take action today to give yourself the best chance of succeeding.