Finding Deep Success

"Be deeply successful in a way that is personal for you," advised a recent college graduation speaker. Sadly, we sometimes let others define success rather than determining it for ourselves. Of course, figuring it out is not always easy, and it can be amazingly convenient to let someone else do the deciding. But that is not a pathway to a meaningful life.

My son Dr. Ben Teschner suggests a slightly different paradigm: Pay it forward to your future self. He adds that this approach, “accepts that there are lots of difficult pieces of life that need to be overcome in order to get to the big outcomes you really want. The ‘pay it forward’ paradigm allows you to grow more into yourself and considers the reality that you have to make some sacrifices to fully live into the future and the ‘self’ that you want.”

Sorting this out is a step on the pathway to a meaningful life. Write down where you want to be in 5 or 10 years and list the ways your present work is (and is not) leading you in that direction. If the latter, will this path foster meaningful growth and be worth it in the long run? Consider if the up-sides are enough and if the down-sides are too much. 

For more on this topic, you can read my full column in the July 16 edition of the New Hampshire Business Review.

We each have an extraordinary opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives, including our own. Don’t underestimate your impact!