Live Your Life, Not Hers

We often define what success looks like based on external expectations. We are a society that thrives on comparing and defining what is "good" or "correct" by a set of rules and standards. The question is, whose standards are we trying to live up to, and why are we following their rules?

In order to truly take back your life, YOU must be the one who defines its success. If you take the time to be the author of your own expectations, you can establish role responsibilities that are reasonable and realistic. Once you have established your own expectations, you can then focus on mastery within your own context. Mastery implies perfection, but again this principle is asking that you serve as the source of that "mastery" definition.

A perfect example of defining your own mastery can be seen in IBM's Inhi Cho Suh who was recently featured in the July edition of Working Mother magazine. Inhi, one of the youngest VP's at the tech giant, recently became a first-time mom. In the article, Inhi shares how she quickly realized the need to set her own expectations, priorities and boundaries as a working mom. Inhi states,"I told myself I wasn't going to be the best mom in the world, or even try to be." In making this bold statement, Inhi has freed herself from the expectations of others. In essence, she has empowered herself by being the measuring stick of her own success. She calls the shots and can gauge where she falls on the spectrum of success.

Take the time to clearly define what success looks like in your roles. This is very important, because functioning based on the expectations of others can be frustrating, exhausting and often unattainable. Take charge of your life and set your own standards for being a "good" wife, mom, sister, daughter, friend and everything else in your very busy world.

(Read the full article on Inhi Cho Suh)