I've been thinking a lot lately about success and what makes one person more successful than another. There are several women I know that are my age or younger who have already surpassed me in terms of career success. On the one hand, this makes me a little envious. How have they already achieved so much when I feel I still have so much left to learn? On the other (more rational) hand, I realize that they probably had a clearer vision of what they wanted to be when they grew up.
When I went to college, I intended to become a psychologist. I soon realized, however, that while I enjoyed my psychology classes, I didn't have enough passion for it to justify pursuing it through graduate school. So I turned to creative writing, since that was the only other thing I could see myself doing at the time. By my senior year, I decided I wanted to write for a living, be it for magazines, newspapers, whatever. And for the most part that is what I have done since I graduated, beginning with piddly freelance assignments, working my way up to writing full time.
Only recently has public relations come on my radar, partly because of my job and partly because I joined the Florida Public Relations Association. Both of these experiences have awakened a new passion in me and opened up career paths I had never considered before.
So I suppose it is no wonder I feel like I am playing catch up to other women my age who knew from college that they wanted to work in PR. And I'm starting to realize I shouldn't beat myself up about it. So what? Who cares what age I am when I become a director? The idea is to take keep learning, keep striving to reach my goals. I'll get there one day.
What do you think? Have you ever felt like you weren't enough of a success? What have you done to attain your goals?
Success can be defined and measured in so many different ways. Career aspirations are just one very small part of our lives. My greatest success in life has been to raise a child who is now well on his way to being a responsible adult. I love my career and think I've made some great strides, but everything else pales in comparison.
ReplyDeleteI struggle with this every day! Glad to hear I'm not the only one :) I was progressing pretty steadily at one point, but then life threw me a few curve balls and I stepped back before I could regain my footing again. I had a lot of doubts about myself and my abilities along the way.
ReplyDeleteEveryday on Twitter I hear of some 20-something PR VP doing wonderful and crazy things. That kind of hurts a bit! I love where I work right now, but I certainly am not a VP.
It seems like the work-life balance always creeps its way into these conversations, but I still believe that some how, some way we can have it all - a wonderful family AND a great career.
I'm excited that you are coming over to PR and are so active in FPRA - I love seeing you at all the lunches and events!
I think we all measure success differently. For me, I stumbled into my passion and I have truly enjoyed growing and learning in the PR field. I think no matter what we accomplish and when, there is always the feeling that you could be doing more and there are always people who are more successful or have accomplished more.
ReplyDeleteAs long as you're happy in your life and career and make a commitment to continue challenging yourself and learning, then success will come to you everyday!!!
This is something I struggle with as well. First, may I point out that you identified your passion for writing and have been working in that industry since college? That’s incredible! Heck, I’m still trying to narrow down what I want to focus on and put my energy into (and I believe I have some years on you).
ReplyDeleteYou should also give yourself credit for allowing your first passion to open the door to a new one - and are jumping into that successfully, it seems. So there may be others younger than you that have fancier titles. You have earned your current vocation and stature through experience. Now that you have your passion, experience and knowledge ready for action; look out, world! Congratulations.
Thank you Colleen, Niki, Ivette and Rachel for your comments and words of encouragement. I'm beginning to realize that if you isolate one area of life, like your career, it is easy to start feeling intimidated by others' success. If I look at my life as a whole, however, I see a much richer picture. I have been happily married for six years, have a beautiful, healthy daughter, a home I am proud of and awesome friends (like you guys) that give me insight from all different perspectives on life. I think it is very American to put so much emphasis on what we do for a living. My job is only one part of who I am. Looking at life from a wider angle makes me feel pretty successful indeed. Thanks for helping me see that guys!
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