Power Play: Know what success really costs you

Before you do anything Power Players have an uncanny understanding of the price of success. If it costs you your dignity or your friends or your relationship, then it’s too high a price.

Success is one of those funny words that sounds great in theory, but in practice is something else altogether.

Before you do anything else, decide what you’re willing to trade or give up in return for success – most of us don’t have this conversation with ourselves until it’s too late.

Power Players take a good, long look at what success will look like after the fact. Will they be able to live with the trade-offs they’ve made?

Make sure you ask yourself these questions before you go chasing success only.

The story

In order to get a project off the ground, I had to spend an interminable amount of time with a man I really did not like.

Every time I had to meet with him I started to feel sick to the stomach. It started to affect everything else in my orbit but I had convinced myself that without him I couldn’t get this project off the ground, which was probably true.

I gritted my teeth and held on for six months until I faked a reason not to meet with him. Now I was lying, too.

The next day I pulled the pin on the project and immediately started to feel better. The project would have been a great success but the price was too high.