How do you measure success? How do you assess your strategy for life? Is it based on how you feel? How much money you make? How many likes you get on your Facebook posts?
“Before you climb that ladder of success make sure it’s leaning against the right wall.” Stephen Covey wanted you take time now to ensure that your life today is taking you where you want to go. So how to do that? What is the right success formula for you?
I first asked myself this question when I was 10 years old. I was spending the night with my mother’s fun-loving younger sister, Mary. My Auntnie Mary introduced me to a board game called Careers, a game which was not only fun but also taught me a lot about life. The object of Careers is to define your Success Formula, choose a career and make decisions to win points that add up to your formula.
On each scorecard are three symbols and three categories:
- Dollars for money
- Stars for fame
- Hearts for happiness
You create your Success Formula by choosing a number of points in each category. For example,
$30,000 + 30 stars + 40 hearts = Success
That would be your definition of success and your goal for the game.
Then you set out on your career journey trying to make it all add up. The career you choose, the choices you make (and don’t make), the experiences you have, the opportunities you take all give you points in one area or another. And they all add up.
There’s a brilliant simplicity in this game that many of us miss as we grow into adults. Creating the right scorecard for you is your most important step in winning the game. Where are you going? Is it where you want to go?
We are all so busy today. Doing, doing, doing the things the experts tell us will give us what we want:
- More clients
- More revenues
- More successful products
- Better time management
- Better branding and marketing
- Better systems
Busy-ness is not business.
The experts are right… as far as they go. These are key ingredients of business success. But it’s all too easy to be seduced by external measures and lose touch with what success really means to you.
Don’t wait.
Take two minutes right now. Take a post-it note. Write out your success formula. Create your scorecard. Post it on your computer for a week.
MONEY FAME HAPPINESS SUCCESS
$€£______,000 + ________ ∗s + ________ ♥s = 100 points
Then keep score. Measure your choices each day this week against your personal formula.
Then check back with me next week for the next post in this series.
Be honest. Your life is at stake.