As my LearningShip reaches its third destination, it tides along the waves of doubt. The doubt associated with “Will I succeed?” and “Do I belong here?”.
But to steer through these doubts, it’s important for the captain (aka me) to truly define what success actually means to me?
In the words of another great sailor (sailor of words, you know), “If, however, you want to succeed because you love the excitement of pushing your potential and exploring your world and new experiences, if you want to succeed because life is short and why not fill it with as much activity as possible, then you will win.”
I believe that all too often, we associate success with ‘winning’ – being the best, getting the best, becoming the best. And suddenly when you’re not the best, you’re not succeeding anymore. But, is it true? What is our metric of success and how do we not let other people’s metrics influence ours?
As overly optimistic as it sounds, I believe that all things “are” for us. We might be naturally good at some things and mediocre at. But if you really think about it, what do you define as ‘being good at’? Don’t we often gauge how we are performing in relation to others? So if there’s someone who is a better public speaker than you, you consider yourself to have the same level of skill and then suddenly you feel that you’re not a “good enough” public speaker.
So, it’s important for us to set our own metrics in order to feel that we belong in a space. Technology is an industry where we all belong. It’s just that we need to define what belongingness means to us and how we can pave our own way to achieve that level of belongingness.