Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Marketplace Faith

Home
Careers, Workplace and Religion
How Do You Measure Success?

How Do You Measure Success?

Last updated on: December 1, 2016 at 9:39 am by Dr. Chip Roper

How Do You Measure Success? 2016-12-01T09:39:18-05:00 Dr. Chip Roper

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

4 Assumptions About You and Success

You want to be successful at SOMETHING
You know few people who get more successful with years
Your metric for success defines your destination in life
Most of us have a faulty metric for success

All of Us Want to Be Successful at Something

Success is achieving a desired aim or vision. Success is the coming together of intention and efficacy: moving from our current A to a better “B” on purpose. I would imagine most of the following components are found in each of our pictures of success.

Purpose—we long to live for something that will outlive us.
Agency—we long to combine our energy and talent to change the world around us, especially at work.
Relational Wholeness—we long for peace and connection with the people who matter most to us, usually family and close friends.
Financial Health—we long for fiscal stability and the capacity to help others
Emotional Health and Presence—we long for the peace and presence to weather the storms and fully experience the moments of joy on the

Few Attain

When you combine my work, family, and social networks, I am connected with several thousand people. In my career as a pastor, I was the keeper of secrets. I am also hopelessly analytical. Here’s what I see.

Few people attain their longed for picture of success. In comparison to the picture above, many of them fail. Certainly, a few of them break from the pack and when you check back in they are noticeable better than the last time you connected. And certainly, a few are surprisingly the same, maintaining what they’ve always had. Yet most people are not like wine—they do not get better with time. Instead, they become more of the following:

Exhausted
Bitter
Lonely
Cynical
Fearful
Trapped by their consequences of their choices and addictions

Why? Why despite our longings and best efforts do we find failure instead of success? Here’s an answer. Our metric or scorekeeping grid is faulty.

Your Metric Determines your Destination

We measure what matters.

If you measure your net worth, then financial health is what matters.
If you track ways to appease your boss and move up the chain of command, then career advancement may be what matters.
If you measure the educational and career attainments of your kids, then having “successful kids” is what matters.
If you track your dress size than appearance is what matters.
If you measure the number of likes you get from your posts on Facebook than perhaps image is what matters.

If we are not attaining the picture of success for which we long, perhaps it’s because we measure the wrong things along the way. Our metrics don’t mesh with our desired outcomes. Tragically measuring the wrong things inevitably leads to the failure we so desperately want to avoid.

A Better Metric

This post begins a short series on the construction of a better metric. My thesis is this: the best success metric is a robust sense of calling. Calling is a multifaceted description of the responsibilities and tasks into which God invites and summons me. Here’s why it leads to success: God always gives us the resources to do the things he’s called us to do. His promise of provision neutralizes the threat of failure. Calling hooks us into God defined ends and God supplied means.

Future posts will address:

Myths about calling
A Robust model of calling.
A default, out of the box, starter version of work-life calling.
Clues to discover your work-life calling.

It’s Not Too Late

In New York City, we ride elevators all day. Elevators take us to where we are going. But tall buildings are tricky; many of them divide their elevators into different banks, each bank serving a different range of floors. If you want to go to 20 but get on the elevator that services floors 10-16, you will experience an Elevator Fail: you have to go back down to the lobby and get on the right elevator. The key is to make sure the elevator you are getting into is headed to the floor which is your destination.

Success is the same way. Some of us are riding an elevator that can never take us to our desired destination. It’s time to go back and start over. What do you measure that you think will bring you to success? What are the chances that metric will deliver?

About the Author:

Dr. Chip Roper writes Marketplace Faith from New York City, where he is the director of Marketplace Engagement at the New York City Leadership Center. Chip is driven to turn the daily grind into a spiritual adventure. In service of this vision to empower individuals to approach their work with a keen sense of vocation, he aims to end the “stunning silence of the Church regarding life at work.” He is convinced that a central piece of God’s plan for any city or community is the work that people do each day. You can learn more about him here. Chip is available for speaking, consulting, and coaching engagements. Inquire via his email: [email protected].

Calling

Faith & Work Application

Purpose of Work

Calling

Success

Previous Post

November 15, 2016

Trump - Elect | The End of Power | The Work Landscape

Next Post

December 7, 2016 Why "Calling" Isn't Working For You

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category A Deeper Understanding of Faith Ambition Bridging the Vocational Divide Calling Faith & Work Application Illness and Work Medince Networking Purpose of Work Secular Work Stress Uncategorized Video Talks Work Skills

Select a Month October 2023 August 2023 July 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 November 2020 May 2020 February 2020 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 June 2019 May 2019 March 2019 February 2019 December 2018 October 2018 February 2018 January 2018 September 2017 July 2017 May 2017 April 2017 December 2016 November 2016 September 2016 August 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which king was famous for his wisdom and built the first temple in Jerusalem?

Select your answer to see how you score.

David Rehoboam Solomon Saul