Over the centuries, society defined success in terms of status, and power. Once inter-regional trading occurred on a broad scale in the 15th century, money became the third success measure. Moreover, in the age of personalization, we are redefining success as meaning, purpose, and fulfillment.
Fulfillment is essential for satisfaction and happiness. Most importantly, we get more satisfaction from meaning, purpose, and fulfillment than we do from status, power, and money. True fulfillment also leads to deeper thinking and more significant innovation.
The Dark Horse Mindset
“When you are on a path of fulfillment, it is not selfish. It is so expansive; you want other people to feel the way you do.” — Todd Rose
A dark horse is someone who does not take the traditional path to success. Harvard professor Todd Rose makes a compelling case to stop searching for success and start looking for fulfillment in his book, Dark Horse: Achieving Success Through the Pursuit of Fulfillment.
Ross tells stories about different people who found fulfillment. For example,
- Thomas Price, orphaned at 14, and now he is an expert sommelier. He worked in restaurants and working his way up, and then enters this upper echelon of sommeliers. The Master Sommelier diploma is a recognized title throughout the hospitality business. There have been only 255 professionals worldwide who have received the title of Master Sommelier since the first Master Sommelier Diploma Exam in 1969. Notably, Thomas made this incredible accomplishment.
- Jenny McCormick, a high school dropout and a single mom and ended up being an astronomer and is making amazing contributions. Jenny happened to visit some relatives in rural areas of New Zealand. Someone handed her some powerful binoculars, and she just was captivated by the vast expanse of the universe. Jenny convinced people to give her spare parts and built her little observatory. Moreover, she discovered a planet and an asteroid and published articles in the top scientific journals.
Success versus fulfillment
Today, we want more than the old zero-sum game – wealth, status, and power. However, we crave meaning and purpose and fulfillment. I think that it is a significant shift. It articulates to where we are going to be going as a global society.
Many folks view success as choosing one or the other. For example, some follow a corporate path for a period and then shift to pursue their passion or find fulfillment.
However, most people accept the standardization path. Train for something, have the grit to stick with it and climb the corporate ladder. However, in the age of personalization, more people are choosing what matters what matters to them. They make it their purpose in life. They are on to something! However, to achieve satisfaction, they need to find the role where they are fulfillment in achieving that higher purpose.
When people pursue fulfillment, they are deeply engaged in their work. The positive benefits come from moving away from a race to the top in an organization is a diverse, creative knowledge workforce where new ideas, creativity, and innovation occurs.
Research shows us that highly engaged people are 400% more productive than average workers. We measure behavioural DNA, to determine your preference on 85 traits. Looking at high performers in a variety of occupations and industries, we found that these top performers in a specific role share a standard set of traits. We can predict your career satisfaction and success in any role.
Education—focus more on personalized learning to helps students find fulfillment
We want our education system to produce good citizens with skills and knowledge for future success, including:
- Critical thinking and problem-solving
- Collaboration across networks and leading by influence
- Agility and adaptability
- Initiative and entrepreneurialism
- Effective oral and written communication
- Accessing and analyzing information
- Curiosity and imagination
However, our education system is designed to train the average student. More importantly, none of us are average. The system is missing the mark in the age of personalization. In general, mass production systems are not conducive to fulfillment. Our education system is not an exception. The education system needs to become student-centric and adopt a system of micro-credentialization to allow students customizable learning experiences.
When I ask people to think about their education experience, I ask — Did anybody ever bother to help you understand what matters to you? For a few of the lucky one, they reflect on how that education shaped their direction. They fondly speak of one or two teachers they had along the way that inspired them, however, for most people that did not happen. The shift towards personalization will allow more people to find inspiration. By using technology and know-how, education equips students to live more fulfilling lives. That is a game changer.
Let us start by:
- committing to helping kids know who they are, on their terms
- focusing on mastering things rather than just getting good grades—developing skills in people
- giving kids some control in their learning—having some say in the kind of projects they are doing
Parents role
We spend much time telling them what they should care about. However, we are not as good at letting them discover it for themselves. Help your child find out what matters to them and what motivates them. It starts with asking them. Ask your kids what matters to them and why. By asking questions that make them gain insight on what they find fulfilling (effort based) you have them describing something that is important to them and something they can influence rather than an outcome that may beyond their control.
So, ask — What do you enjoy about [things, i.e., school, soccer, a movie, playing with a friend, reading, etc.] and follow up with why they think they felt that way?
Rather than — How was school today? How was soccer? Dig you win the game? How many goals did you score?
Key ingredients to find fulfillment
The dark horse mindset the four elements. They are an integrated set of components.
- Know your behavioural DNA – what motivates you — your micro-motives and superpowers
- Be open to opportunities — you are always in the pursuit of fulfillment
- Strategies to expand your talent stack to capitalize on the possibilities — following the path of least resistance does create growth
- Pursue gradient assent rather than the destination
The most important is understanding what truly motivates you. Moreover, if you do not have this understanding, it is just not possible to get fulfillment. Most of us are terrible at really understanding what drives us. In Harness Your Individuality in the Pursuit of Fulfillment to Achieve Excellence, I set out how to play the judgement game to start to discover your micro-motives. A behavioural assessment is needed to round your behavioural DNA and help you realize your superpowers.
Micro-motives and superpowers
Some are big, and some are small, but they are specific to you. These are the areas that you do better than most people. Your unique set of micro-motives and superpowers make you special. Your self-centred quest of opportunities where you use your micro-motives and superpowers along your path to find fulfillment. You will maximize your contribution to society, as you will be 400% more productive than an average performer in the role where you are fulfilled. This approach is a big win-win.
Being on a path of fulfillment is not selfish. It is expansive. You will want other people to feel the way you do. Moreover, you will also look for ways to help other people pursue their fulfillment. So, your success has a multiplying effect.
It important for you to figure it out
It is incredibly empowering to feel that you do have choices. You know that you will always have an opportunity to seek more fulfillment. It is an agile approach to career success.
In a lean start-up, you create a minimum viable product (MVP). The main benefit of an MVP is you can gain insight into your customers’ interest in your product without fully developing the product. So, the sooner you can find out whether your product will appeal to customers, the less effort and expense you spend on a product that will not succeed in the market.
In your gradient ascent approach, you are the MVP. You build your talent stack to capture the opportunity where you can find increased fulfillment. Once in the role you continue to learn, growth, refine, or pivot based on what you experience. You may be able to shape the position where both you and your organization mutually benefit.
Concluding Thoughts
If people pursue meaning, purpose, and fulfillment, we would:
- get more innovation in areas where we need it
- ensure technology is used to make the world a better place for all — more equitable, inclusive, just, and sustainable
We need folks to find fulfillment and care about what they are doing. When conducting behavioural assessments, when we see people with a profound sense of responsibility for their work, they are always fulfilled in their work. They do not take shortcuts. They achieve excellence in activities that are meaningful to them.
It is sad that 85 percent of people are not engaged in their work. In the age of automation and AI, these people are at risk. Their jobs will be the first ones to go. If you understand who you are, make choices to pursue fulfillment, you will be deeply engaged in your work. Should your job go away, you will know how to make choices and how to get to the next one. Today, this is an absolute necessity.
Insights About Your Behavioural DNA To Advance Your Career
We are incredibly passionate about Behavioral DNA and the impact this scientific insight can have on you. Using SuccessFinder, you can discover your behavioural strengths and challenges.
In a given role, the high-performers have a common subset of behaviours. Our talent analytics compares your talent stack — behavioural traits and competencies — with high performers. We show you how to leverage your unique talents to achieve career satisfaction and success.
Focus on your strengths and manage your challenges. You complete the assessment online, we then provide you report and personal feedback via video call. We offer the service worldwide. We’d love to hear from you!
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