It’s time to grow up and face the world.This is what college students are told time and time again as graduation looms over the horizon. We’re also faced with a number of questions from our parents, peers and ourselves in the process: What are you going to do after college? What kind of career do you want? What the heck are you going to do with your life?If we’re expected to conform to traditional ideals of success, this means pursuing a high-paying, well-respected career that will allow us to move up the corporate ladder. However, as discussed in this article on Elite Daily, more and more millennials are exploring different ideas of what success means. Some of us are willing to sacrifice high pay for a different kind of success, a different kind of life and a different kind of happiness. It’s a scary prospect to go after your dreams when the world is telling you you’ll fail and you’re wrong and the economy is the worst it’s been since the Great Depression. But this is an age of change… and we have to embrace it. Here are some questions you can ask yourself to help you redefine what it means to be “successful:”
Is your idea of success fulfilling to you personally?If we are to spend at least 30 hours a week dedicated to something, it should be something we’re passionate about. Identify what you’re good at and what brings you happiness. The merging of the two should help you hone in on what you want to do and allow you to gain even more satisfaction as you get better at it.
Is it challenging? Does it help you grow?Whatever you pursue in life should push you out of your comfort zone once in a while. Once we grow comfortable with something, we like to settle in, wrap ourselves tightly in our security blankets and not move from that place of comfort. However, it is when we’re challenged to go beyond our perceived capabilities that we thrive the most.
Is it helping others? Is it making an impact in your community, the country or the world?Everyone wants to be able to impact the world in some way. We can inspire masses with our words or actions; we can help those around us who are broken, hurt and in need. With the age of technology, it’s almost scary how quickly and easily messages can spread to a massive audience. This new, powerful tool can be used for the good. Perhaps this should be the new, universal definition of success: effecting positive change for the better of all.
Though the people around us have been trying to define our success for us for ages, it’s time for us to redefine it for ourselves. Take a stand, be bold, and pursue the path that will make you the happiest. If we dare to dream, we can truly understand what success means and carve our own way in this crazy world with confidence.