What is success?

I’m participating at a voluntary program called „Mentoring for MigrantInnen“ which means as much as mentoring for migrants (as you might guess). The aim of the program is to help migrants find a job, higher their self-confidence and just help them get integrated.

Yesterday we had the kick-off where there was also a round table with some people who were “successful” in their business/company. One of them (who for the record was Iranian) said that being successful is equivalent with feeling comfortable with where you are. What he actually meant was that once you feel comfortable with what you are doing and where you are, you will also be successful.

Actually what he said really touched me and made me think. I was thinking about the times when I felt that I was REALLY successful and indeed it was always in situations where I was comfortable with what I was doing, where I loved what I did and also had the feeling that I exactly knew was I was doing.

I thought about my most successful sessions at the European Youth Parliament, about successful projects and also about successful coachings/trainings I delivered. It doesn’t mean that I wasn’t successful when I was stressed or unhappy with what I was doing. Let’s say I was successful in numbers but being successful by heart is something else.

Of course Hamed was relating to migrants’ situation, coming to a foreign country, not feeling comfortable and not being familiar with the culture. The key to success for him was feeling good where you are and being comfortable with your surroundings. I really share his opinion and wanted to share this little inspiring moment with you.

Now the next question would be: so when do you feel good? When do you feel comfortable? This one is really tough to answer and probably different for everyone. But I can give you my answer: I feel good when I like the people around me, when I feel respected, empowered and inspired. When I feel that I can use my strenghts but also work on my weeknesses. When I am challenged but not stressed. When I am busy but not over-worked. When I feel that I can contribute to someone’s/a group’s development. I guess you get the idea, by now you should now me a bit ;)