“The planet does not need more successful people. It desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of every kind.” - David Orr
Have you ever taken a big enough step back to actually look at what definition of success is driving you? Maybe you’ve always just assumed it was the top of your career path. Recognition. Family. Money. Early retirement.
What if your definition of success was simply to be happy? Would you be doing as good of a job at it as you are in your day job right now? Would you need to keep chasing something 10 out?
What if it was to leave the world just slightly better than you found it?
I love this quote because it reminds me just how vain our societal definition of success can often be. We feel a drive to “be successful” because it validates us. It makes us feel like we did life right - or at least more right-er than the next person - yet is actually utterly and completely empty of meaning at the end of the day.
It’s one of the most deep-seated narratives we learn throughout our lives: You aren’t good enough until you go to a certain college, or have a certain title, or sell a certain startup, or get a PhD or an Apple Watch or a ring on your finger. But it doesn’t have to be the only one. Redefine what success means to you. We don’t need more traditionally “successful” people. We need more people who know the difference.
