What are your personal measures of success?

I am currently teaching a course on personal effectiveness in Singapore. A group of experienced executives are taking part. I am making it as interactive as possible and also as introspective as possible. While I am facilitating the course teaching, as it happens always, I am also learning a lot. To teach is to learn twice!

We discussed about defining measures of success. Helping others to succeed, attaining targets, providing for essential needs of family, being happy with what one does etc cropped up as personal examples of success. These measures are so specific to each individual. I even asked the group to share and discuss with their spouses. I even alerted that the measures of success may differ between wife and husband. Differing is not a big issue as much as someone trying to impose his/her measures of success on others.

When I decided to let go of my well-paying corporate job so that I could succeed in starting up a firm on my own, I was pursuing my measure of success. However, for the world around, I should have become a bigger boss, earn more money, power and so on. When I left they were all there around me to sympathize for quitting the job and to offer their help in finding a better job with more money, power etc. They were wanting me to be successful - but as per their yardsticks and not mine!

When I asserted myself, stuck to my decision and decided to pursue my measures of success, there was general wonderment, resentment which slowly died down.

When I reflect back, the key was to have personal clarity as to what is that I am pursuing. If I was not very clear as to what I wanted to do, there would have been an element of doubt in me and I would have given in to those pressures around me.

Not pursuing ones own measures of success is like eating to feed next person's stomach and at the cost of keeping your soul starving. In retrospect, I am glad I was clear and did stick to my measures of success. What about you?

What are your measures of success? Are they genuinely yours?
Do you have a resolve and confidence to pursue success as per your yardsticks?