It’s a new year and a great time to think about defining what career success looks like. Many of us assume the path to success includes finishing grade school, going to college, getting a job, and building a family. While these are all great accomplishments, there are other factors that will ultimately help you define what career success is to you.

Below are 6 easy steps that will help you understand how to define career success. 

Focus on your vision of career success and not others’ vision for you.

Defining success for your career is personal. Receiving advice from others is cool but it’s impotant to recognize what works and doesn’t work for you. Clarity of your vision could come from personality test, internships and volunteer work.  

Identify the things that make you feel fulfilled in life overall.

Some criteria may be: 

• Having a 6-figure salary 

• Doing meaningful work

• Being recognized quarterly for your hard work, or 

• Having the opportunity to move up within the next 5 years

Other things that could contribute to overall life fullfilment is spending time with family and friends, having a solid fitness schedule or traveling 6 months out of the year. 

Whatever it is that makes you feel complete in life, identify those things and align them to a career that supports your lifestyle.

Reflect on things that went well in the past.

Time and experience is the best teacher in my opinion. Through positive work experiences you gain a better understanding of the things you want. I remember my first big corporate job as program coordinator where the vibe between myself, my colleagues and upper management was extremely closeknit - felt like a family and I really loved that! It made doing the work with my team more meaningful and fun.

Imagine your ideal work environment. 

When you wake up every morning for work, where would you want to go? Is an office setting away from home more practical for you? Maybe you enjoy sitting in a coffee shop or co-working space. 

And if you’re anything like me, you have no desire to leave the house and thoroughly enjoy rolling out of bed and walking into your home office.

Don’t skip this step - you want align with a career where you’re able to work in an environment where you feel happy and very productive. 

Redefine career success as life changes. 

At 15 I just knew I was going to have a successful career as a defense attorney. 7 years later it changed to a successful architect, which ultimately led me into drafting, construction, then project management. Basically, as I got older, I realized my strengths and what motivated me. Being an attorney was no longer in my definition of career success.

How many of us grew up thinking we’d be project managers? It’s one of those hidden gem careers that you kind of stumble upon after realizing you already have the skills and that project managers make bank. 

As life changes, your definition of career success could change. Getting married, having a baby, or winning the lottery are all great reasons to redefine what career success looks like to you. Don’t be afraid to adjust as needed.   

Understand your deal-breakers.

It’s very important to not overstep your own boundaries and take action when they’re being crossed by others. Once you become unhappy in your career, you suffer and your work suffers. Know your deal-breakers and don’t settle. 

In the end, you define career success by understanding who you are. And as you evolve, success criteria may change as you’ll need to adapt to new self-discoveries and circumstances. 

By, Airess Rembert, PMP, Member of Women Of Project Management & Blogger at The Nerd Bae

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