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Celebrating Everyday Successes

Indeed, it’s wiser to think in terms of “everyday successes” or little wins, rather than focus on some giant jackpot. Little wins eventually add up to big wins and are much more easily achievable. They include the satisfaction of resolving a customer dispute, gaining a new skill, writing a report, getting a good performance appraisal, improving on an existing ability, and learning to handle constructive criticism. These little victories can make the difference between a good day and a bad one. They are also the building blocks of a good reputation, the name you acquire for yourself through your work.

Rule 3: Follow Your Dream

Missions are the values or dreams that drive superachievers to pursue excellence. To fly higher than that, you also need to dig a little deeper. When clinical psychologist Charles Garfield first researched superachievers in business, he wanted to know what made them different. In his book Peak Performers, Garfield reveals the secret that enables these executives to achieve consistently impressive and satisfying results without burning out. Says Garfield: “The bottom line for peak performers is that they went and pursued their dreams.” Why? Because dreamers who are committed to making their visions come true often keep a close eye on anything and anyone that might interfere with their ability to bring the dream to life. Their intense ambition can make them incredibly pragmatic when it comes to achieving their goals.

What’s in a Mission?

If the notion of a “mission” at first sounds too religious or impractical, think again. For your work to be meaningful, you must have a vocational mission that reflects and expresses your spirituality.

Like the urge of plants to grow toward sun and water, human beings have an overarching need for growth that’s expressed through a

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variety of spiritual urges. In Passion for Life (1991, Penguin Books), authors Muriel and John James outline a simple yet elegant framework that should help you determine whether spiritual components are missing from your work. Formulate your mission accordingly:

■The urge to live involves basic survival needs and more. It’s expressed through your desire to be as healthy as possible.

■The urge to be free—physically, emotionally, and intellectu- ally—is another fundamental force within the human spirit. But it takes courage to stand up for your freedom and live in accordance with your personal needs and beliefs.

■The urge to understand is also universal. It makes you search for knowledge that can give you greater control over your environment and your life. When you don’t understand the factors that affect your life, you tend to feel helpless and confused.

■The urge to create activates unique ways of thinking, being, and doing through goals that express your originality. If you lack creative outlets, you can become angry, indifferent, or unproductive.

■The urge to enjoy is as natural as the urge to live. It can push you to search for happiness and pleasure in everyday things. When you bring a playful spirit to your activities, what you do feels less important than how you do it.

■The urge to connect creates a genuine bond of caring with others. It’s one of the motivations behind a strong desire to serve.

■The urge to transcend is defined as the ability to reach up and out—to move beyond the ordinary limitations of human existence. It’s a fundamental component of nearly every religious system and many religious impulses.

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At the heart of every peak performer, Garfield found a desire to excel at something the person truly cared about. In these achievers, economic self-interest combined with other, more spiritual values involving creativity and service. These values became leverage points for excellence.

Mission-Driven Career Change

A lot of mission-driven career changers emerged after the collapse of the World Trade Center on 9/11. In the face of so much individual heroism and tragedy, many ambitious and talented men and women suddenly felt compelled toward more meaningful work. For example, inquiries about joining the Peace Corps spiked 20 percent in the two months following the tragedy. Others switched from for-profit employers to nonprofit organizations in an effort to create more meaningful, service-oriented work lives.

No generation has been more affected by this tragedy than people in their twenties and thirties. Suddenly Gen-Xers are being transformed into “Generation 911” in the same way baby boomers were affected by Vietnam and the generation before them was shaped by World War II and the Depression. This is what prompted “Sam,” a 29-year-old real-estate broker, to ditch his real-estate career to go back to school to become a social worker. This is also what prompted Katie, a college junior, to take a year off from her studies in order to do some volunteer work. And it’s what motivated Simon, a 25-year-old teacher, to become a police officer.

These career-change stories are both heartwarming and surprisingly predictable. Tragedy often becomes the impetus for positive personal changes. Take, for example, John Walsh, the popular television host of “America’s Most Wanted.” Walsh became a crusader for justice after his six-year-old son, Adam, was abducted and killed. Similarly, the inspiration for MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) came from Candy Lightner when her teenage daughter, Cari, was killed by a drunk driver.

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Discovering Your Passion

Sometimes, as an adult, it’s hard to discover a dream or a mission. Other times, the difficulty is in recognizing it when you’ve found it. To discover your passion, you must ask yourself what you place at the center of your life—what you personally find most fulfilling. Then, build your livelihood around that central interest or value.

Rules for Creating a “Burning-with-Passion” Work Life

1.Choose work you love.

2.Commit to competence.

3.Invest in training.

4.Chart a course of action.

5.Set goals.

6.Cultivate a problem-solving mentality.

7.Build and nurture support systems.

8.Monitor your progress.

9.Rechart your course when necessary to take advantage of new experiences and learning.

10.Keep setting new goals—and keep on truckin’.

Begin by looking at the position you currently hold. Are you happy where you are? Being discontented doesn’t necessarily indicate the need to change careers entirely. You might simply need to redirect your career toward more personally fulfilling goals.

For example, a 40-year-old pharmacologist in Chicago had devoted 20 years to academic research on psychogenic drugs. On the surface, if looked like he enjoyed a satisfying and challenging academic career. As the principal investigator on several research grants, he enjoyed senior status and had accumulated an impressive list of research

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