{"id":341,"date":"2019-04-09T13:00:52","date_gmt":"2019-04-09T13:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/etabc.com\/?p=341"},"modified":"2025-03-18T02:14:24","modified_gmt":"2025-03-18T02:14:24","slug":"how-to-be-limitless-in-your-life-and-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etabc.com\/index.php\/2019\/04\/09\/how-to-be-limitless-in-your-life-and-career\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Be Limitless in Your Life and Career"},"content":{"rendered":"

We all have a similar goal.\u00a0We want success to feel meaningful, we want our work to matter.<\/p>\n

But it doesn\u2019t.\u00a0\u00a0And we feel stuck. \u00a0No matter how hard we hustle and grind toward success, or how much we achieve it. That\u2019s because the problem isn\u2019t how we\u00a0achieve<\/em>\u00a0success, it\u2019s how we\u00a0define<\/em>\u00a0success. We spend our lives positioning ourselves\u00a0just so<\/em>, reaching for the right college, the right internship, the right company, the right promotion, the right job.\u00a0 We fill all the right check boxes on all the right paths to all the right and generally accepted, externally definitions of success, and we still feel like something is missing. But sometimes it\u2019s much more than that.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s Missing?<\/h3>\n

Years ago, I found myself sitting in a corner offer with a beautiful view of the park and a fancy title.\u00a0 I had gotten myself to the top.\u00a0But, I found myself asking, \u201cThe top of what?\u201d<\/p>\n

I had done all the right things.\u00a0 I had wrangled my way to the fast track, I had demanded the spotlight, I had put myself smack dab in the center of the deal flow, and I had done it early enough in my career that the dividends would pay for years to come.\u00a0 And I had leaned in!<\/p>\n

I was successful.\u00a0 But I wasn\u2019t happy.<\/p>\n

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Whose Definition of Success Are You Following?<\/h3>\n

I was at the top of someone else\u2019s definition of success.\u00a0 And that\u2019s the problem.\u00a0 You can\u2019t be insatiably hungry, or deeply inspired, or happily fulfilled by someone else\u2019s goals. In order for your working life to\u00a0feel<\/em>\u00a0right for you, it has to actually\u00a0be<\/em>\u00a0right for you.\u00a0Being limitless comes not from achieving externally defined success, but achieving consonance, where\u00a0what you do<\/em>\u00a0matches\u00a0who you are<\/em>\u00a0(or want to be).<\/p>\n

That requires doing something different.\u00a0\u00a0The first step in becoming limitless is to ignore everyone else\u2019s definitions of success and create your own, owning how much importance you place on, and from where you derive, the four elements of calling, connection, contribution, and control. Once you know that, you can decide whether you need to change your career, change your workplace, or change yourself.<\/p>\n

Calling<\/h4>\n

Calling\u00a0<\/em>is a gravitational pull towards a goal larger than yourself\u2014a business you want to build, a leader who inspires you, a societal ill you wish to remedy, a cause you wish to serve.<\/p>\n

Connection<\/h4>\n

Connection\u00a0<\/em>gives you sightlines into how your everyday work serves that calling by solving the problem at hand, growing the company\u2019s bottom line, or reaching that goal.<\/p>\n

Contribution<\/h4>\n

Contribution\u00a0<\/em>is an understanding of \u00a0how this job, this brand, this paycheck contributes to the community you want to belong, the person you want to be, or the lifestyle you\u2019d like to live.<\/p>\n

Control<\/h4>\n

Control\u00a0<\/em>reflects how you are able to influence your connection to that calling in order to have some say in the assignment of projects, deadlines, colleagues, and clients; offer input into shared goals; and do work that contributes to your career trajectory and earnings.<\/p>\n

You can think of it in this way: until we are able to control how our connection and our contribution influence and are influenced by our calling, we will continue to be limited in the confidence we have in the choices we make and the chances we take. Understanding how these elements align for you, personally and professionally, will allow you to determine whether you need to change your career, change your workplace, or change yourself in order to become limitless.<\/p>\n

This guest post was authored by Laura Gassner Otting<\/em><\/h4>\n
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Laura Gassner Otting is the author of Limitless: How to Ignore Everybody, Carve Your Own Path, and Live Your Best Life<\/strong>.\u00a0 Want to live a limitless life?\u00a0 Take her quick quiz at <\/em>https:\/\/www.LimitlessAssessment.com\/<\/em><\/a> to see what\u2019s holding you back, and what you can do about it.<\/em><\/p>\n

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The post How to Be Limitless in Your Life and Career<\/a> appeared first on Ms. Career Girl<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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