What is success?

Who is a successful person? Is it someone who works in FAANG? Is it someone who is getting paid $200K+ per year with ESOPs? Is it someone who has millions of followers on social media? Is work only a way to earn money and use your skills, or is it your legacy?

The common aspect of all these scenarios is that, success is visible. It is public. Since social media has now pervaded our daily lives, it feels like work is our legacy, because we see other's success in our feed. Has this been always the case? I think it has become this way only since the 90s. Earlier only film stars and politicians had to indulge in publicity and promotions, we now even normal people with a 9-5 job have to do it.

This is part of showcasing your "brand" and expanding your "reach", so that you can become an "influencer". We showcase our promotions, certifications, awards, milestones, YouTube/Blog stats, even job changes, because we want to be seen as a successful. But, success in work does not always have to be a singular criteria for deciding whether someone was successful in life or not.

Assuming that a person works for 40 hours a week, 48 weeks a year and their work life lasts for 40 years, here is an hypothetical break down of their 40 year period.

There are only two time blocks where you can define your legacy during this period: at work or outside of work. We all know the successful people who are in LinkedIn, Twitter and TikTok. But, IMHO these are the minority and their version of success, does not have to be the only version of success.

I happened to read a story about an employee who never took any leave for 27 years this week. The reason he stayed with the same job as stated by his daughter.

Then as our family grew and he remarried, he continued to work here because of the amazing health insurance that was provided through this employer because it was unionized, which got all four of his daughters through high school and college with full healthcare coverage.

The award he got for 27 years of loyalty was a gift bag with:

1. Movie ticket
2. Reese's
3. Drink cup
4. Lanyard
5. Ballpoint pens
6. Keychains
7. Lifesavers

The gift Kevin Ford got from his employer for 27 years of service without any time off is a gift bag worth approximately $30. He seems very happy to receive the gift bag though.

The gift he gave to his kids though is immeasurable: steady income stream, health insurance and education. This is success. There are so many Kevin Fords who wouldn't get featured in any news story, who do their job as best they can 9-5 and help their kids succeed. It may be a job that they like, that they are good at, or it might be a job that they need to do for money to provide for the family.

My father was one of such successful people. He started working in a bank in 1974 and retired from the same bank after 36 years of service. He never focused on career growth or promotions, because that meant relocating to a different city, which would make our (me and my sister's) schooling difficult.

He passed away on 7th March, 2022. My father lived his life with discipline. Every evening he would sit down and write expenditures for that day, so that he knew where money was being spent. Even though he was conservative in spending money on discretionary expenses, he never hesitated to take bank loans to put me through Engineering degree or sending me overseas to do my Masters. When I spoke to my father's colleagues, everyone were always mentioning similar points: how he was a loud and jovial person, how thorough and sincere he was with his work.

Even though it has been more than three months since he passed away, I think about him everyday - how by not focussing on his career or his personal goals, but only about his family, he gifted me the life I live today. I don't know whether I am successful or not, but I consider my father's life to be a success, because he was able to invest in a house for my mother and put me and my sister through University.

Millions of such successful people exist, who no one would know about. They won't be featured in TV shows. Their life won't be made into a biopic. They will not write articles like "Ten career mistakes to avoid". They won't have fancy titles.

They just work 9-5, maybe even multiple jobs, provide for their family, go to bed, do it every single day, and die when they are old. Their life will still be a success because of their sacrifice to help the next generation succeed.

They are the real heroes.