Don’t measure your success using someone else’s ruler.”
Too many times, we base our success on the success of others. We tend to observe the accomplishments of the people around us, just to make a comparison, which then causes us to feel as if we have not done enough.
But what is enough? That is a personal question.
Can you answer the question without first considering the works of your friends, colleagues, or family?
Only you can determine what success looks like for YOU!
For example college degrees, maybe your success does not require you to obtain a higher level than the one you received or one at all. There are so many successful people who have moved up the ladder without a degree. If an associate is what you needed and you’ve earned it. OWN IT! You put in just as much hard work and dedication as the ones with their masters. Certificates have value. Realizing that success comes in various shapes and form will better equip you for yours. My shape visually may be hard to visualize but your shape could be a semi-circle with a final loop at the end. The road it takes me may be curvy and rocky, your road may be narrow and straight. My path may have a couple of detours, yours could be a straight shot with a few roadblocks. My time may be 20 years , your time may be 4 years. The point of the matter is that you reach it. The only way you do not have complete success is if you fail, and you only fail when you give up.
Your success is dependent on how far you want to go and what it takes to get there. I often use myself has an example. I knew I wanted to start a Pre-K program. When I first decided to move forward with my plan, I obtained my Child Development Associate Certificate (CDA), that was all I needed to become an administrator at a childcare facility so that I could be afforded the luxury of getting first hand experience on how to run a center/program. I learned the good and bad of it. The CDA courses taught me a great deal of what I needed to know about preparing the early child, but it was not enough information on how a child developmentally grows and the different practices to assure proper growth and development, so I continued and obtain my associates degree in Early Childhood Education. This was a more in depth learning experience and it was what I needed. There were so many people who tried to pressure me into a bachelors, but I knew that was not the route for me. I definitely could have accomplished it but I was not supposed to. I was around people with higher level degrees and I started to re-think my decision, ONLY because I started to measure my success with their rulers. I started my preschool program, Kindergarten Prep, and it was successful, with my Associates of Applied Science degree.
You have to know what your measure is or you may end up making your route longer than what it was really intended. I must admit I am not finished, but I have completed that part of my life. I was successful in that area and I feel great even in a room full of people with masters and doctoral degrees . My next certification will be in life coaching and I will not use anyone’s ruler to measure my success.
with that being said
I encourage you to put God first and create a map of what your success looks like according to what you want to accomplish. Make sure you know what is needed, the action steps, and an estimated time frame for completion. Pray for motivation and strength then start climbing the ladder and do not stop until you reach YOUR PEAK.
Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established.
Proverbs 16:3 (NASB)