The Milestones of Success

My husband said something to me recently ”It’s not about getting to the end but the milestones in between that makes a life of success”.  This conversation made me wonder what is a great success or achievement?  Would we recognize it when it happened? Would we feel a moment of suspended shock or get more pizazz in our step or would we pass it off as a small step to a bigger and better goal?

Of course even though we all know we achieve a lot of our goals, inside ourselves we still strive for that one great success, yet even if we have it or achieve it we don’t really recognize it. We are continually lying in wait for success to arrive. I think we as individuals have a tendency to look back and appreciate but never really live within the moment of success, give kudos to ourselves and say “today I accomplished a milestone and I’m proud of this moment”.  We rarely live in the moment of our successes we have a tendency to move quickly to the next objective. This I believe is our human nature, the inability to recognize and spot our own accomplishments and achievements. We tend to reflect later on down the road and do a self-review before we see our accomplished milestones, we as human strivers have little ability to enjoy and appreciate the everyday endeavors or even celebrate the triumphs of goals realized upon completion. We are more apt to notice our accomplishments when someone else points them out or when we are unexpectedly receiving an award or a sudden hand shake and a strong pat on the back with a ”Way to go that was a fantastic presentation, I think we have that all wrapped up”.

A runner knows when he has reached his milestone with each mile he puts under his feet, each medal he has won or each Marathon he has completed. Most athletes have a starting and stopping point consequently he can see the challenge and meet the goal. So appreciating that moment of satisfaction of a job well done is much easier for athletes to enjoy and certainly a recognized success has been reached.

Business accomplishments are much harder to spot and ultimately personal accomplishments are even harder to determine. So how do we go about spotting those elusive successes that each and every one of us achieves in our personal and professional lives?   The only way to see the outcomes in our accomplishments is to determine our statement of work and the goals that go along with it. Then once these goals are achieved we can have our moments of personal celebration of each and every one of our successes. You are the determining factor of your own personal success so go out and observe your life in the moment. Give thanks and appreciation to yourself for goals accomplished and remember it’s not about getting to the end but the milestones in between that makes a life of success.