Measuring Success

How do you measure success? Is it about progress or is it perfection?  What if we are looking for things to measure when we should be looking for what is meaningful? 

Returning to teaching this year, I am working with youth that have more challenges and obstacles to academic success than most.  I am challenged by own internal assumptions and beliefs around measuring success; both for myself and for others.  Should it even be something that is pursued?  

I can fill my walls with every inspirational quote under the sun, but how then are these relevant when we insist on planning and measuring achievement by a yardstick that is different? 

Even professionals are challenged by the pursuit of success.  Peter Pregman states “Pursuing success is like shooting at a series of moving targets. Every time you hit one, five more pop up from another direction.  Just when we’ve achieved one goal, we feel pressure to work harder to earn more money, exert more effort, possess more toys.” 

An article by Laura Nash called “Success that Lasts”  offers a possible way forward with the kaleidoscope approach. This complex and complicated approach has the four components of happiness, achievement, significance and legacy.  If we ignore one of these components then we will not feel ‘successful’. 

I do not have any conclusions to this question-yet.  If I am to offer encouragement and opportunity for success as an educator I am going to have to think a little deeper on this matter.  What do you think? 

Photo by Samuel Zeller on Unsplash