Home Features Mastermind Videos About Advertise Blog Network Contact
   

Have A Suggestion?
Toronto Salsa Classes / Toronto Salsa Lessons Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
Have A Suggestion?

Featured Ebook


ebook Famous Entrepreneurs - Modern Empire Builders


Featured Ebook

More Evan Carmichael
Have A Suggestion?

Sales Lessons From Starbucks And Dell

A Better Measure of Success



A Better Measure of Success
   

The headline caught my eye, "The Goal: Wealth and Fame." The article in USA Today examined a recent survey of top life goals for the college-age crowd. It surprised me that there was a 33% jump, today versus thirty-eight years ago, in beliefs of college freshman that being financially well off was "essential" or "very important." But what surprised me more was their desire to be famous.

Perhaps it's indicative that this celebrity-obsessed culture produced freshmen defining success in terms of money and notoriety, putting the value of "a meaningful philosophy of life" 40% lower than their counterparts four decades ago. While the article posed interesting research on this up-and-coming group, it got me thinking about success.

What is success, anyway? What does it mean to be successful? Is the appearance of success, like wealth or fame, the same as being successful? Who is successful and who isn't? And who determines it?

If both wealth and fame are the parameters by which success is to be judged, then Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa and Gandhi would not be in the success hall of fame. Nor would Susan B. Anthony, Abraham Lincoln or Rosa Parks. Yet these people positively changed the world.

So have scores of inventors, teachers, writers, musicians, scientists, designers, builders, doctors, leaders, parents and engineers. But they weren't rich and famous, and no magazines devoted pages to their day-to-day sightings.

Yet without their achievements, the conveniences we take for granted, the technologies that save our lives, and the endeavors that engage our souls wouldn't exist. Things like: airplanes, x-rays, medicines, bridges, post-it-notes, cell phones, movies, music, books, microwaves, computers, prosthetics, fashions and ATMs, to name but a few.

Every day, people who are winning at working focus on new ideas, break-through technologies and solutions to global problems. They focus on child-rearing, firefighting, and community building. They focus on education, service and healing. They don't have household names and may struggle to pay the mortgage, but they're successful.

You see there's a better definition of success, and people who are winning at working know it. Success is not about the money. It's not about the recognition or the glory or the fame. It's not about an outward measure someone else establishes. And while money, recognition, and fame may come to people who are winning at working, the difference is this: it's not the goal. It's a by-product of their passionate endeavors, hard work, ongoing efforts and achievements.

For people who are winning at working, success is an inner measure of passionately doing what they are able to do, making a difference with their lives and maximizing their gifts and talents. They measure success by leaving the world a bit better for having been here.

(c) 2007 Nan S. Russell. All rights reserved.

Sign up to receive Nan's complimentary biweekly eColumn at www.winningatworking.com. Nan Russell has spent over twenty years in management, most recently with QVC as a Vice President. She has held leadership positions in Human Resource Development, Communication, Marketing and line Management. Nan has a B.A. from Stanford and M.A. from the University of Michigan. Currently finishing her new book, Winning at Working: 10 Lessons Shared, Nan is a columnist, writer and speaker. Visit www.nanrussell.com



A Better Measure of Success - To learn more about this author, visit Nan Russell's Website.

Like this article? Share it with your friends
[Get Copyright Permissions] E-Mail | Print | More  


Related Articles Related Articles
10 Tips for Creating a Successfull Business
  Below are ten tips necessary to grow a successful business.
Measure THAT
  One of the secrets of the Yellow Pages was that the phone company would give you a second line when you bought a big ad.
Success Really Isn’t About Money…
  This morning I had a meeting with several professional Scouts. These people make their livings serving the Boy Scouts of America. They are not likely to become wealthy in the conventional sense. Their jobs involve l...
Heart
  Some things cannot be measured, and the heart is one of them. I think of three former NFL football stars. Mike Singletary, according to the experts, was too short and his 40-yard speed was not that great. However, t...
Is Your Business Growing as Fast as You Planned?
  Or are you not planning for growth at all? Or worse yet, do you even know how your business is performing and what the key growth drivers are for your business? An essential part of growing and developing yo...

Related Forum Posts Related Forum Posts
Word of Mouth Transformation - Recording Word of Mouth Transformation - Recording
Over 100 Articles Over 100 Articles
Re: A Book For New or Experienced Entrepreneurs - Act Now Re: A Book For New or Experienced Entrepreneurs - Act Now
Blogging Frequency Blogging Frequency
You're Right Chris You're Right Chris
All My Sites Have Blogs All My Sites Have Blogs
Re: I stopped coming to evancarmichael.com forums because... Re: I stopped coming to evancarmichael.com forums because...
First Four Words First Four Words

 
About the Author


Nan Russell
(Visit Nan's Website)
Nan S. Russell is the author of "Hitting Your Stride: Your Work, Your Way". She is also the host of "Work Matters with Nan Russell" weekly on webtalkradio.net. Nan Russell has spent over 20 years in management, most recently with QVC as Vice President. Sign up to receive Nan's "Winning at Working" tips and insights at www.nanr ussell.com
Have A Suggestion?

View Author's Blog
Become An Author

View Author's Video
Become An Author

Free Downloads


Nan Russell's

Complete
List Of
Business-Coach
Articles

First Name
Last Name
Email
 
If you enjoyed this article, get Nan Russell's Complete List of Business-Coach Articles For FREE!
Become An Author