The first step to build a successful career is to be clear about what success means to you.

The Oxford English dictionary defines success as “the accomplishment of an aim or purpose”.

I don’t know about you, but this definition of success resonates deeply with me.

According to this definition of success, to be successful you need to know what your aim or purpose is – in other words, you need to be clear what it is you want to achieve.

Of course, knowing what you want does not guarantee you will achieve it. But if you don’t know what you want, you have the risk of being adrift, taking whatever opportunity comes your way without any direction.

You can get out there and ask people how they became successful. You can engage with mentors and follow your role models. These strategies can be helpful, but if you don’t know what you want, they will be futile. Even dangerous. You could end up chasing someone else’s dreams – or climbing someone else’s ladder.

Make sure you are not climbing someone else’s ladder because you don’t know which one is your ladder.

In the process of identifying what you want, be aware of social conditioning. Society has some standards of what success means. If you get trapped into a definition of success set by society, your culture, your family or your environment, you are at risk of building a career that does not align with who you are — your talents, interests, values and needs.

To have a successful career, you need to have the courage to follow your dreams instead of following external expectations.

Let’s stop a minute for a visualization.

Close your eyes and imagine a successful person. Before you continue reading, take a moment now to do that.

What do you see?

Did you imagine someone with some kind of prestigious job and social status?

Or did you imagine someone playing with his or her kids, or doing some type of home activity, like gardening or cooking?

The truth is, all those are perfect images of success. Because success means to accomplish what you aim for, whatever that is.

If your dream is to get a part-time job and have free time to go surfing as often as possible, you will be successful if you achieve that.

If your dream is to be the CEO of a global company and have a big team reporting to you, you will be successful if you achieve that.

The point is that your definition of success is unique to you.

Success does not mean achieving a certain status or income. Success means to achieve what you want.  

Are you clear about what you want?

What is your definition of success?

What would you like to see when you are on top of your own unique ladder?  

I would love to hear about it. Use the comments section below or drop me an email to share your thoughts.

Thank you for reading!