Choosing success

I recently wrote about success when I was making a difficult career decision.  Today I read a post by Deepak Chopra on Linkedin. A little bit new age and some may think a bit airy fairy but I thought it was worth sharing as good food for thought when making work and life decisions.

I have extracted some of the article below but the full article is in the link above.  As he writes:

Success is a magic word, and I believe in it too. When people are given the opportunity, almost all will pursue some kind of success. But matching opportunity with success is trickier than one might suppose. If Bill Gates had had the opportunity to fill Mother Teresa’s shoes, or vice versa, what would have happened? ... 

In India there's a term for the life that leads a person to the right path of success: Dharma. The word comes from the Sanskrit verb "to uphold," implying that the universe will support you when you find the path that is right for you. How do you know if you are in your Dharma? It's a delicate matter, because everyone is complex enough that mind, personality, interests, education, and background pull in different directions... 

Modern life gives far more latitude for choice, and yet external opportunities, important as they are, don't solve the question of how to find your dharma... In the midst of everyday life, the signals that direct us toward the best existence are constantly being given. 

Positive signals - "You're on the right track"

• You welcome the next challenge.

• You feel confident that you can meet the challenge.

• You enjoy what you're doing.

• You feel freer today than you were a year ago. 

• There's something new to discover and explore. 

• When you look around, your surroundings fit the life you want to live.

For many generations, these signals didn't pertain to the work a person did, they fit retirement. ...however, and now it's fair to say that given the opportunity, most of us want everything on this list today, not somewhere in our distant "golden years."  On the other hand, contrary forces still pull the other way. 

Negative signals - "This is where you have to be."

• You can't wait to go home from work.

• You feel underused and under-appreciated.

• You work for the paycheck.

• You find it hard to motivate yourself in your job.

• There's pressure to conform, and you give in to the pressure.

• You don't want to be here, but you can't figure out how to leave

These aren't huge existential matters - on an everyday basis you can begin to foster the strengths needed to move toward success... Only when your mind faces up to your situation, with all that's good, bad, or indifferent in it, can you create a space for change. Getting stuck is your enemy, and stuckness is an inner state... No matter how you define dharma, it's always an open, accepting state where you feel that you are growing and evolving...