What does success mean to you these days? Is it the title you hold, the deadlines you meet, or the difference you make? In the middle of the daily grind, it’s easy to forget. Maybe it’s time to pause and ask yourself: Am I chasing what truly matters?
Commonly in the workplace, success is about having a promotion, an award, having good performance or receiving good feedback from the manager. These are all valid accomplishments from work, but they don’t always represent your true value.
Achieving success is deeply intimate. Success could be inventing new products, the ability to balance work and personal life, having good health, or simply feeling at peace at the end of your shift at work. As workplace culture evolves, people are realising that there are other ways to achieve success other than climbing up the corporate ladder. This blog will guide you in how you can define what success looks like for you that isn’t limited to corporate standards.
Why Success Matter?
Success is important not because it means being the best, but because it helps you figure out who you are, what you care about, and where you’re headed in life. It’s not so much about impressing other people as it is about becoming the kind of person you want to be.
How Companies Usually Define Success
- Achieving KPI (Key Performance Indicators)
- Being productive
- Getting promoted
- Being recognized by leadership
These in fact are practical and often necessary for business operations. However, to some these are not always able to articulate a personal sense of success. You can achieve every milestone and yet still feel unsatisfied, exhausted, or be unsure if you’re truly growing or not. It’s not just about what you accomplish in work, but how it makes you feel.
What Success Could Look Like for YOU
- Enjoying your work
- Having boundaries—leaving works at work and enjoy personal life
- Learning new skills that keep you curious and motivated
- Being respected at your workplace
- Earning enough to support the life you want
- Contributing a positive impact to the workplace
There are many ways to define success. You get to decide for yourself what matters the most, what motivates you, and what success means to you.
Balance Your Company Goals with Personal Values
So how do you balance work and personal life? You don’t have to choose which should be priorities between success for the company and success for yourself.
Ask yourself:
- Can my work contribute without losing my sense of self?
- Am I growing in a way that matters to me and not just the company?
- Do I feel proud of the work I do and how it impacts others?
If your answer to those questions is all “Yes,” then you and the company can grow together. However, if you feel unclear, make time to reflect and do small changes or bigger shifts for you to be able to balance company goals and personal values.
A Self-Assessment: Redefining Success
Reflect on these questions:
- What makes you feel the most fulfilled at work? Is it solving problems? Helping others? Completing tasks on time?
- What makes your energy drain even if you are good at it? Is it non-stop meetings? Full schedule? Lack of acknowledgement?
- What does your ideal workday include? A flexible schedule? A supported team? Easy tasks?
- Which of your current goals reflect your own values and which were influenced by external expectations?
You might not have the answers today — and that’s perfectly okay. Maybe you’re not ready to ask the questions yet, and that’s okay too. But give yourself this promise: when the noise quiets down, when the moment feels right — in a journal, on a quiet walk, or during an unguarded breath — come back to them. The answers will be waiting.
In a working society that glorifies urgency, choosing to reflect is an act of courage — and care.
So take a breath. Be still. Look inward.
Your purpose isn’t a one-time discovery. It’s a path you revisit, a quiet force that realigns you when you’ve drifted. Like a compass, it will always lead you back to what matters most.
