Career Success: How to Define Career Success in 6 Steps

Career success is a concept revolving around how you measure achievement in your professional life. Many factors influence how you define success in your career, including your job title, work-life balance, and happiness level. The definition of career success is subjective and means something different for everyone. For example, the highest level of career success for one person may involve rising through the ranks to a CEO position at a well-known company. For another person, it may mean doing a job they love and having a healthy work-life balance.

Determining your vision of career success can help you set goals and increase your professional satisfaction.

Establishing your personal vision for professional success takes time and self-reflection but ultimately allows you to steer your career development in a satisfying direction. Follow these tips to learn what career success means for you.

1. 1. Consider your role models. Think about your mentors, friends, and successful people you admire. What makes them stand out? What about their roles, work-life balance, or success would you like to emulate?
2. 2. Determine your priorities. Consider your top priorities and how to incorporate them into your definition of success. Is financial stability the most important thing to you? Do you crave opportunities to be creative or stretch outside of your comfort zone? How important is work-life balance for you? Use these priorities to guide your career planning efforts.
3. 3. Evaluate your career path. Think about the positions you’ve held in the past and what you liked and disliked about each. Listing these items out will help you envision what fulfilling work looks like when it comes to your professional skill set.
4. 4. Look for new opportunities. If your current position doesn’t help you build the type of career you want, it may be time to seek out new opportunities. As you embark on your job search, consider how any new position can serve your professional trajectory. Use each job interview to gather information on which types of employers are a good fit for your needs.
5. 5. Seek career coaching. Working with a mentor or career coach can help you determine what professional success means to you. Reach out to a trusted advisor or find a career coach in your area, and work with them on goal-setting exercises to help you achieve your career dreams.
6. 6. Take initiative. When you know what career success looks like to you, communicate those desires to your manager and take the initiative to move in that direction. Rather than leaving your current job, you might be able to transfer to a more relevant position within your current organization.

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