Happiness and the success effect

A few years ago, I sought to answer a simple, yet profound question -

"What makes you happy and why?" 

It set me on a journey of self-discovery as I sifted through my childhood experiences, my family values, my education & my personality. I thought I found my answer.

I had zeroed in on 'impact'. I found a common pattern emerge as I jotted down events that had made me happy. Every time I influenced a situation around me positively, I had felt satiated. Being the school prefect boosted my ego, but leading my school team to debate and quiz wins was the bigger thrill. Mentoring and knowing I changed the course of people's lives and careers was exhilarating. Shaping the product portfolio at a start-up almost got me on a high. The pattern was obvious to me then. It was about making a difference. Success, I thought, was all about making an impact.

But then it struck me that in going through this exercise, I was equating success to happiness. In fact, I realized that impact was really a means to happiness. It all came a full circle as I concluded that contention and happiness were great measures for how successful I was in life. This consciousness, in turn, brought a refreshing framework to my thought process.

Happiness drove a firm sense of security and purpose for me. It also generated greater self-awareness. Knowing that I need to do the right thing for me - for who I am - helped me widen my horizon to see beyond impact. As an example, I began to consciously practice compassion as it empowered me to do the right thing. I stayed away from people emanating negative energies if I could not help them let go of it. I watched out for discontent as a signal for stagnation and drove change. In a sense, recognizing the happiness paradigm and framing a mental model around it helped build a very positive cycle thrusting me towards greater success.

As I wind my life tape forward, I see myself continuing my pursuit of happiness. When I get to a point where my happiness is innate, I would have accomplished it all.

Happiness, my one metric for success, is not a number. It is a state-of-mind that I strive for. 

Some of you can argue this is Utopian. Others - those for whom happiness is already innate - would consider this common sense. At the end, I suppose the notion of success is subjective and is a reflection of who you are. Happiness is my one metric to success. What's yours?

#MyMetric