How Do You Define Success?

Everyone laments the fact that children don’t come with an owner’s manual. But equally disconcerting is for this “most important job in the world” there actually isn’t much of a job description to go by either. A job description usually lends focus to actions, creates healthy boundaries about what is and what is not your responsibility and provides a guideline for successful delivery of the job. So how do we know we’re succeeding as parents when we don’t have guidelines such as these to refer to?

The answer is both very simple and very complicated at the same time. It is about getting that 30,000 foot perspective and defining what success means to you. This is an overall picture of the person you hope your child will become, while recognizing and honoring that they already are “themselves.” And then distilling that into areas where you can influence and areas where you can simply support successes in your child. It is about being proactive while simultaneously letting go of control. It is exciting, frustrating, fascinating and sometimes frightening.

If you’re a “mompreneur” it is complicated still further. Is success a profit - a dollar figure that your reach? Is it measured in the pride you have in forging your own path? Is it about how much time you are able to spend with your family, or the flexibility in setting your own schedule? Or in the passion you have for your business and what it brings the world and your community? The reality is, it is probably a combination of all of these.

To feel truly confident about your own success, you have to look critically at what is really important and what you want to achieve, then have a plan to get there. How exciting!