Everybody
wants to be successful in life. Whatever efforts you put in to succeed, you can
determine your progress in a number of ways. How you measure success will
depend on how you define it. You might find that you succeed by one definition
of success where you don’t by others. Your definition of success may even
change over time.
Measuring by Performance Outcome
Define
your outcome.
If you have defined success as having achieved a specific outcome, you need to
know what that outcome is. Think about your school work, or job or whatever
aspect of life you’re looking to succeed in. Do you want success to be measured
at regular intervals or do you want success to be measured at the end of a
project? For example, is success to you achieving 80+% on all of your
assignments throughout the school year or straight A’s in all of your exams at
the end of the year? You decide your definition of success.
- Be sure that your outcome measures are attainable and realistic, if they are not you might end up feeling exhausted and fatigued as you will always be fighting a large uphill battle.
- Ask others for strategies on how to achieve your desired outcome. You should have a plan for achieving your goals.
Outline
performance benchmarks. A benchmark is an ideal or standard that you
set for yourself; it is essentially the best outcome that you would like to get
for yourself. Make a calendar of your expected performance as indicated by the
benchmarks you have chosen. For example, if you’re trying to lose 16 pounds in
two months, break it apart so that you have smaller benchmarks. Using the same
example, you might put on your calendar benchmarks of two pounds per week over
eight weeks.
- As another example, imagine that you're trying to obtain the outcome of becoming a top student in your class. Performance benchmarks you might set for yourself could be receiving an A at least two out of your exams and an A on at least four out of five of the class assignments.
- Leave space to add details of your actual performance.
Compare
actual performance with benchmarks. Mark your actual performance on your
calendar under your benchmarks. Reward yourself if you met your target. It’s
okay to feel upset if you didn’t manage to meet your benchmarks at any one
particular time.
- Make sure your reward is in line with your performance. For example, if your benchmarks are set weekly, don’t reward yourself with a shopping spree at the end of each week that you meet your goals. Keep things in perspective and save big rewards like this for when you succeed at the final overarching goal.
Take
setbacks into account. Sometimes things happen that are out of your
control. If this is the reason that you don’t meet your target performance,
know that you have not failed. If there is something that you are doing that is
keeping you from achieving your goals, think of solutions to the issue.
- For example, if you are sleeping in and that’s preventing you from studying as much as you would like to, ask someone you live with to make sure you wake up at a certain time.
Reset
benchmarks.
Given any setbacks that may have happened, reset your benchmarks for success if
you need to. This will more likely happen if your benchmarks are set at regular
intervals. If you have a major outcome as your definition of success (e.g., run
10k in 1 hour at the marathon in June) then you can easily change your outcomes
along the way.
- You will need to change the amount of effort it takes to achieve your outcome but it is still likely that you will achieve your goal. Reset your benchmarks for performance outcome and carry on.
Measuring by Pursuit of Your Values
Define
your values.
Concrete outcomes are not the only way to measure success. You can also measure
success by trying hard to live up to your values, even if you sometimes fall
short of the mark. List the sort of characteristics you want to have, in order
to be considered successful. These can be things like, ‘I pick myself up when
I’m down’, ‘I look for the positives in every situation’, or, ‘I make an effort
to speak kindly and politely to everyone, even if I’m in a bad mood.’
- These values don’t come with an expiry date: they will help you gauge how you’re doing at any given stage of life.
Evaluate
your current performance. Are you living up to these characteristics
most of the time? Think of examples that can show that you are or are not
living up to your standards of success. Are you trying your best to be the kind
of person you want to be? Think of behavior you can improve to be successful.
Ask others for advice on how to do it.
- Ask others for their opinion of your current performance. They can give you a perspective that you might not have thought of.
- Remember that this is a life process and there often will be no concrete outcome.
Consider
the manner in which you did things. Decide if how you did things is
more important than what you did. For example, if you managed to score goals in
all of your football matches but you were arrogant and rude to your friends and
lost some of those friends, are you still successful?
- Or, if you did NOT manage to secure straight A’s in all of your exams but you worked hard throughout the year and you learnt a lot of skills along the way, did you really fail? Keep things in perspective.
Cut
yourself slack in tough times. Sometimes it just makes sense to
reduce effort, such as if the goal you are trying to achieve is not really
obtainable.
- Keep in mind that when you get sick or need to direct your attention elsewhere, it doesn't necessarily mean that you are not succeeding, but that your success is on pause while you deal with more pressing concerns.
Measuring by Evaluating the Roles You Play
Think
of the different roles you play in life. Whether you are successful or not
is not only defined by any one particular outcome or quality. You are a
brother, a son, a friend, a student, a football player, a citizen of this
country. List all roles you can think of.
- You might be doing better in some roles than others. This is natural and to be expected.
Define your success in these
roles.
Think about the quality of your relationships or the number of roles you have.
What do you think makes you successful? Think about the efforts you are putting
into all of these roles. Remember that you will always have ups and downs in
life.
Keep
in mind that definitions of success can vary by domain. You might
have to think about your actions, the quality of your relationship with others,
your performance, or other aspects of your role. Here are some examples of
success in different roles:
- As a citizen: you make sure you recycle.
- As a son: you speak politely to your dad.
- As a football player: you attend all of your practice sessions with the team and encourage your teammates to improve.
Evaluate
how you are doing in different roles. Think about how you successful
you are in your different roles by asking yourself some questions. Are those
who depend on you satisfied and happy? Do you feel that you are living up to
your ideals?
- Ask others for their opinions on your success. There may be people you engage with in different roles.
- For example, ask your mother how you’re doing as a son, or ask your boss how you’re doing as a recently hired employee. Other people may tell you things about your performance that might surprise you.
Identify
the roles that you can improve your performance in. Do you
think you can be a better son by taking care of your mother? Do you think you
can be a better friend by being more reliable? Think of things you can do to
improve your success in these roles.
- Remember that success in your roles is malleable; it depends on how you define it and whether you want to change to reach the ideals you set for yourself.
