Your Values Can Shift How You Measure Success (Tuesday Tip #32)

Success is often defined for us, not by us. Promotions, titles, salaries, follower counts, achievements. The milestones are clear, and the expectations are loud. But at some point, you may notice that hitting those markers does not feel the way you thought it would, or the way you were told it would. You reach the goal, and yet something feels missing.

That is often a sign that someone else's definition of success has been guiding you. The good news is that you can redefine it. And your values are the key.

Why Values Change the Meaning of Success

When you measure success only by external benchmarks, it is easy to lose connection with what matters most to you. But when you start with your values, achievement begins to take on a different shape.

For example:

• If you value Balance, success might look like protecting your energy and having time for what gives you purpose.
• If you value Personal Growth, success might mean taking on challenges that stretch you, even if they do not come with recognition.
• If you value Friendships, success might be building relationships where you feel seen and understood.

This shift does not make achievement smaller. It makes it more personal.

How to Redefine Success for Yourself

1. Identify Your Top ValuesStart by identifying three to five values that feel most important to you right now.  A Values Identifier report will give you this insight. These are the drivers that shape how alignment appears in your life.
2. Ask How They Show Up in AchievementFor each value, consider what success would look like if it aligned with that value.
3. Set Metrics That Match What MattersInstead of chasing outcomes defined by others, decide how you will measure progress. Sometimes that will still involve traditional milestones, but the meaning behind them will be different. For some, progress will be measure by something specific; for clothes, it’s a feeling.

Alignment Over Approval

When you stop measuring yourself against someone else's standards, you open the door to a more authentic version of success. It may not always look impressive from the outside. But it will feel more real to you.

Because success without alignment is achievement without fulfillment. And success with alignment is what allows you to move forward with clarity and confidence.

Something to Reflect On

If you stopped measuring success by other people's standards, what would change about the way you define it for yourself?

Every Tuesday, we offer Tuesday Tips on the Values Identifier Facebook page and here in blog form. These tips offer thoughts and ideas to help you live a life more aligned with your values.