Have We Got the Metrics of Success Upside Down and Inside Out?

It's time to untangle the definition of success from the clutches of materialistic and phony parameters.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

There’s a peculiar unspoken assumption about what makes an individual successful. When someone is judged as successful in the traditional sense of the word, it is presumed that their success is synonymous with happiness.

I’m bored with the standard success metrics. At the moment, our success is largely judged on:

• Our relationship status.

• The job we do.

• The wealth we have.

• What car we drive.

• The size of our house.

• How many children we’ve produced.

According to this, I’m a down and out loser!

But none of these factors indicate whether someone is a good person. Nor are they indicative of happiness levels.

Yet, we are all guilty of pedalling these metrics of success. Think of the bog standard questions we ask the stranger next to us at a wedding.

• “So what do you do for a living?”

• “Are you married?”

• “Have you got any children?”

Yawn, yawn, yawn! I’ve spoken before about the need to ask better questions and I will continue pushing this until I see a palpabl…