Question for Today: ‘How Do You Define Success?’

suc·cess
Pronunciation: sək-ˈses
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin successus, from succedere
Date: 1537
1 obsolete : outcome, result
2 a : degree or measure of succeeding b : favorable or desired outcome; also : the attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence
3 : one that succeeds
4 : (fill in the blank)

This morning, a prospective client asked how I defined success. I literally had to suck in my breath for a second before responding. What ended up coming out of my mouth were phrases like “establishing goals, benchmarks and deliverables”…”ensuring strong ROI”…and “yes, of course PR can be measured.” Those were the right words to say at the time, and I meant them. But what I really wanted to shout, with all my heart, was that success for me is best defined in terms of happiness. Am I happy? Is the team happy? Is my family happy? Are our clients happy? And are the results we’re producing making those clients even happier? These things, too, create success. Right after that meeting with the prospective client, I met a dear work-life friend for lunch and we talked at length about our jobs, our lives, our families and our goals. She, too, looks at success somewhat differently. (Must be why we get along so well.) Anyway, all of this got me thinking about this damn thing called success and wondering to myself, “Am I truly ‘successful’?” Gosh, I hope so. At least, that’s the aim every day, just like most folks. For seven years, I was so very happy at my former company, Fleishman-Hillard International Communications (http://www.fleishman.com/). Working for one of the top PR firms in the world. Great company, great bosses, pay, team, clients, friends. Life in that fast lane was really gooduntil it wasn’t. The high-speed lanes had worn down my nice tires and I was driving recklessly faster and faster down the highway of my career, with bald tires and in desperate need of an oil change, and maybe even a new transmission. 

So I pulled over.  

That was 12 years ago. Today, my little PR agency, which started up in ’98, continues to thrive. The tires now have good, solid treads on them, the engine hums along, and I drive the speed limit in the right-hand lane. Sometimes I’ll speed up and pass someone if I’m feeling brave, but then I usually check myself and tap the brakes. Sure, flashy sports cars (probably leased) often fly on past, driven by beautiful people racing with their, um, tops down. And then there’s those noisy, big-ass trucks. But here I am, cruisin’ happily along, lovin’ my lane…and my life.

In The Wall Street Journal’s “Turning Points” column today, writer Dennis Nishi “drives” home the obvious:  Life can be really good in the slow, stress-free lane (http://bit.ly/b5uF9t). But in essence, what Nishi’s really asking is this: What makes you happy at work? How do you define success? And shouldn’t these two things be inextricably linked?  Whether you voluntarily demote yourself at work, step up to a higher-level job, take a long sabbatical, or leap off a cliff like me to start something new, spend a little time with the word “success” and create your own definition.

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Balance. Gotta Have It.

As busy people, we’ve all read tomes about balance.  It’s kinda like water:  We know we can’t live without it; yet, we just don’t always get in those 8 glasses a day. 
Anastasiya Goers says it’s easy to know if you lead a balanced life because if you do then:
  • You enjoy every moment and every second,
  • You can cope with any difficulties,
  • You can be happy without any reason to be happy,
  • You can be yourself and love the person you are.
More of her thoughts here:  http://bit.ly/97ufYr
Balance.  Get you some!

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When corporate life gives you lemons…

It’s tough when jobs we love go away. That’s what happened to my friend Carol Ogg. Facing unemployment for the first time in her successful sales and marketing career, she had to unexpectedly start a new chapter. So this plucky lady picked up her knitting needles and got to work.
This year, she birthed Colorful Crowns (www.colorfulcrowns.com), a collection of hand-knit baby hats. Already, she’s getting a lot of buzz, with a nice plug in Skirt! magazine (http://skirt.com/daily_muse/carrot-top) and an upcoming feature in Points North. Each adorable hat fits newborns to 3-month-olds. Carol knits them by hand using fine Egyptian cotton yarn, and the caps come packaged in these cute, eco-friendly gift boxes. And, she’ll customize for special orders, such as sports team colors, whimsical patterns or monograms.
“I’ve been making hand-knit baby hats as my signature gift for years and, for the past 15 years, have probably knitted enough to cover a small village,” says Carol. “In 2009, Corporate America dealt me a hand I wasn’t prepared for and I found myself turning 50 and, for the first time in my life, unemployed. A wise friend told me not to cry over things money could fix. So, finding myself with a lot of extra time, a passion for starting my own business, and knitting needles all over the house, I put my hands to good use and started knitting like a maniac. It was cheaper than therapy!”
Carol’s 15-year-old daughter, Lauren, (who, by the way, has been a friend of Adrian D’Avanzo’s since they were wee ones themselves) donates a stitch of her time to each hat for good luck. The Colorful Crowns logo was designed by friends of the Ogg’s who lost a baby to a brain tumor. In their honor, Carol has pledged an annual donation to William’s Walk & Run, a fundraiser for the Brain Tumor Foundation for Children.

If you want to get in touch with Carol about ordering one of her special “crowns” for the next baby in your life, email her at carol.ogg@mindspring.com.  Please tell her we sent ya.  🙂

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Dirty Jobs

Mike Rowe is one of the funniest guys on TV–and the “dirtiest.” But he’s also really smart. Read about his campaign to promote skilled labor in America at http://www.mikeroweworks.com/.

Here are a few funny “Rowe-isms” worth sharing…
“I could be wrong. I’ve misunderstood a great deal so far.”

“This is how it ends, lying under a house, wrapped in mold. At least I’m insulated.”
“What a stupid way to end a perfectly average career.”
“Sometimes one ball is enough to do the job.”
“I have mud in places no man should.”
“Gloves are for girls.”
“I’m not quitting. I’m just leaving and never coming back.”
***************************************************************
And, of course, I’d be remiss by not highlighting a few Rowe-isms from his encounters with farm animals…

  • “Bambi just got Thumpered.”
  • “Why does a chicken coop only have two doors? Because if it had four doors it would be a chicken sedan.”
  • “I’m off to get the most beautiful cow I can find.”
  • “The pig has your back.”
  • “Any time a placenta hits you on the head, you’re in a dirty place.”
  • “You know, why is it that it’s either my finger or a piece of steel being inserted into the rectum of some unsuspecting animal?”
  • “Now that is one clean vulva!”
  • “Geoducks…the other white meat.”
  • “We’re just a couple of guys squeezing the poo out of chickens.”
  • “Study after study has shown that cows find me fascinating.”
  • “That is one jacked-up goat.”

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Drive

In 1997, a dear friend, Jean Frankenberger Nottingham, took me to lunch and handed me a new magazine called Fast Company. On the magazine’s cover in bold type were three words: FREE AGENT NATION. “I think you should start your own business,” she said. “You’re ready.” Little did Jean know how those three words and that lunch changed my life. I had been dreaming of starting my own PR firm for several years but was too fearful to leap blindly off the cliff. In his article, “Free Agent Nation,” author Dan Pink highlighted the growing number of “free agents” or independent workers who left big corporate America behind to pursue their own visions of what a real work-life balance ought to be. “Jump and the net will appear,” he wrote. I cut that statement out of the magazine, taped it to my bedroom mirror, and for three months stared at it every day. Soon after, I did jump. It’s now been 12 years and that ole net, well, has always been there. Ironically, a couple of years later, Dan Pink asked me to particiate in an entrepreneur time-tracking experiment for his book of the same title. Free Agent Nation (the book) came out in 2001. http://tiny.cc/euW2z
This week Mr. Pink’s newest book hits the shelves…Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. You can read the Wall Street Journal review here: http://tiny.cc/zyks7 . Anyway, like many of you, Mike and I are still trying to figure it all out…how to live a purposeful life while facing the realities of raising kids, providing for a family, and pursuing work that matters. That’s part of the reason we took another leap and bought our farm. To have a place of peace and nature away from a big city where we could go to think and play and breathe more easily. And this little blog is my humble attempt to share part of that life with friends and family, and thus keep the conversations going about what truly motivates us and brings deeper meaning to our lives. Thanks, Dan, for helping me and many others get on the way to this journey. www.danpink.com/drive

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