Many years ago, I’ve cached a chance to read suggestions about success from Christensen. (Success in Life)
So that from my perspective, He who best describes how successful a person is in life and how to measure it is Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen.
According to Chirstensen, there are 9 steps to living and measuring a successful life:
I’m going to share those brilliant ways that also what I used for my successful journey in my life with you.
1- As a first step, one should realize what motivates you in life.
For example, if a person who enjoys discovering new places and meeting new people – just because his income is higher – is confined to a desk job, he will experience great dissatisfaction.
Therefore, finding one’s passion is more important than finding a job.
First of all, one has to find out what motivates him.
2- Second, a person must set a goal for himself and move forward in line with this goal.
In order to be successful, it is essential for a person to stick to the goal he has determined and the path (strategy) that will lead to this goal, despite the difficulties and obstacles that come his way.
Because without perseverance, success cannot be achieved.
But there are situations when the account at home does not fit real life.
Sometimes life throws up such obstacles that it is impossible to overcome them.
In such a situation, insisting on the same strategy for the same goal is a waste of resources.
As Seneca said, “We may not be able to determine the direction of the wind, but we can change the direction of our ship by adjusting our sails to the wind.”
3- The third issue that Christensen recommends we pay attention to is managing the resources we have effectively.
Human resources are not just monetary resources.
Humans have resources such as health, time, abilities, knowledge, experience, friends and social relationships.
4- The fourth is the time that a person spares for his family and friends.
A person is happy to the extent that he spends enough time with his loved ones and spends full time with them.
While most people are trying to make a place for themselves in life, to reach a goal, they ignore their loved ones and neglect them.
5- Fifth is the development of human empathy.
In both private and business relationships, a person should always act by putting himself in the place of the other person.
If a person can understand the perspectives of the people with whom he is in a relationship and look at life through their eyes, it opens the doors to be both very successful and very happy.
6- The sixth is to raise one’s children correctly. I think the most important responsibility of a person in life – if any – is to educate his children.
Every parent has to ensure the physical and mental development of their children within their means, as well as support their spiritual maturation.
7- In order to be successful, a person must both have certain values and act in accordance with these values.
The abstract concept we call “values” is actually the compass behind our daily decisions.
For example, a person who adopts honesty as a value prefers to tell the truth when faced with the dilemma of “making money-hiding the truth”.
The person who cares about making money does the opposite.
8- According to Christensen, a very important issue in managing our lives is to be humble.
Most people unconsciously walk around with an inflated ego.
An inflated ego not only causes one to like himself or exaggerate what he has done but worse than that, it causes him to underestimate others.
9- As a result of all these, the real measure of a person’s success is the benefit he provides to other people.
According to Christensen, the measure of a person’s success is not the money he has earned or the fame he has achieved, but how much he has contributed positively to other people’s lives.
Charles Handy said, “A tombstone showing how many millions of dollars a person in the ground has earned won’t impress any of the passers-by. What matters is what he does with the millions he earns.”