When Growth No Longer Looks Like Climbing: Redefining Success in a Changing Season
What happens when the definition of success that once motivated us no longer reflects the person we are becoming?
There comes a time when we may begin questioning something we once felt certain about: What does success really mean to me?
For much of our lives, we're encouraged to keep moving forward. Earn the degree. Build the career. Accept the promotion. Lead the team. Reach the next milestone.
There is nothing wrong with these aspirations. They represent dedication, achievement, and opportunities to make a difference.
But what happens when the things we once worked so hard to achieve no longer hold the same meaning?
As the seasons change, I find myself reflecting on something I've learned through my own journey: Growth doesn't always mean climbing higher. Sometimes, it means finding the courage to change direction.
My Journey: Following the Silver Thread
For many years, I was climbing the professional ladder. I loved leadership, developing people, creating opportunities for growth, and helping build positive organizational cultures. Each new role brought greater responsibility and opportunities to make a meaningful difference.
As I continued pursuing my PhD in Industrial-Organizational Psychology, I also experienced significant organizational change. Roles were eliminated, leaders were let go, and I found myself navigating a transition I had not planned.
I had opportunities to continue climbing. And for a while, that seemed like the natural next step.
But something shifted when I allowed myself to get quiet and reflect.
Looking back over my career, I began noticing what I call the silver thread woven through every role I had held. Regardless of my title, responsibilities, or position, the part of my work that brought me the greatest fulfillment remained remarkably consistent.
I loved helping people grow.
I loved coaching individuals to recognize their strengths, discover possibilities, and move toward their dreams. I loved bringing people together, appreciating the unique gifts each person contributed, and helping organizations create cultures where people felt valued and empowered.
That was the work that filled my soul.
Yet somewhere along the way, the 60-hour workweeks, endless meetings, and rigidity of organizational systems had begun overshadowing the very things that made leadership meaningful to me. I no longer wanted to measure success by how far I could climb within systems that sometimes seemed to lose sight of the human beings behind the work.
I wanted to bring passion, creativity, and perhaps even a little magic back into personal and professional growth. I wanted to support the whole person, not simply their job title, performance goals, or next promotion.
I also wanted meaningful work to coexist with caring for my health, being present for my family and friends, and contributing to my community.
So I made a decision that was both exciting and frightening.
I stepped away from the ladder I had spent years climbing and took a leap of faith toward creating my own dream job through Life Compass Consultants.
I would love to tell you everything became clear the moment I made that decision. But that wouldn't be authentic.
Building something of your own requires sacrifice, patience, hope, and a willingness to become comfortable with the unknown. It also requires recognizing the people who support you along the way. I remain deeply grateful for the love and encouragement of my family and friends.
Through this experience, I've come to understand something important:
I didn't lose my ambition. I redefined what I wanted my ambition to serve.
I still love leadership and organizational development. I still want to influence positive change and help people thrive. But now I am pursuing those passions in a way that more closely reflects my values and the life I want to create.
When Achievement and Fulfillment Take Different Paths
My experience has also reinforced something important in my work as a coach and doctoral student: professional achievement and personal fulfillment are related, but they are not always the same.
Research in organizational psychology distinguishes between objective career success, such as promotions, salary, and professional status, and subjective career success, which reflects how individuals personally evaluate their careers (Seibert et al., 2024).
Both are meaningful. But one doesn't automatically guarantee the other.
Gallup's State of the Global Workplace: 2026 Report found that only 20% of employees worldwide were engaged at work in 2025, while 34% were classified as thriving in their overall lives.
These findings cannot explain every individual's experience, but they remind us that workplace achievement, engagement, and personal well-being deserve attention as distinct parts of our lives.
A person can be professionally accomplished and still feel disconnected.
A leader can be respected and still wonder whether their current responsibilities align with what matters most.
And someone who appears successful by every traditional measure may quietly be asking, Is this still the direction I want to travel?
These questions deserve reflection, not judgment.
Growth Doesn't Always Require a New Title
One of the challenges of redefining success is that our professional identities become deeply connected to what we do.
We may have spent years developing expertise, earning recognition, and building careers around particular roles. Changing direction can feel like abandoning everything we've worked to achieve.
Yet research on career transitions suggests that professional identities are not fixed. Ibarra and colleagues (2026) describe career transitions as complex, often nonlinear experiences involving changes in how people understand themselves professionally.
What I've come to appreciate is that redefining success doesn't necessarily mean leaving your organization, changing careers, or starting a business.
For one person, growth may mean pursuing an executive position.
For another, it may involve mentoring emerging leaders, setting healthier boundaries, developing new skills, or transitioning into work that allows greater flexibility.
For a leader, growth might look less like managing a larger team and more like developing the self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and intentional behaviors that help others thrive.
The goal isn't to stop pursuing success. It's to make sure the success we're pursuing still belongs to us.
And this matters for organizations, too.
When we recognize that people have different motivations, values, strengths, and definitions of growth, we create opportunities for more inclusive and supportive workplace cultures.
Not everyone wants to climb the same ladder. Not everyone finds fulfillment through the same rewards.
Strong leadership involves recognizing those differences rather than expecting everyone to follow an identical path.
A Season to Reflect and Realign
There's something meaningful about fall.
As the trees begin releasing their leaves, we're reminded that change is part of growth. Not every season is about expansion. Some seasons invite reflection, renewal, and preparing for what comes next.
Perhaps we can extend ourselves that same understanding.
Instead of immediately asking what else we need to accomplish before the year ends, what if we considered what this season has taught us?
What if we recognized that the person we are today may have different needs, values, and aspirations than the person who first began climbing?
And what if we gave ourselves permission to explore those differences without feeling that we had somehow fallen behind?
Sometimes growth means moving forward. Sometimes it means slowing down long enough to recognize where we want to go.
Neither requires dismissing the value of what came before.
Your Personal Compass: Three Questions Worth Exploring
As you reflect on your own journey, I invite you to consider three questions:
1. What is the silver thread running through my experiences?
Think about the roles, relationships, activities, and experiences that have brought you the greatest sense of meaning. What has consistently energized you, regardless of your title or circumstances?
2. Am I pursuing my current definition of success because it reflects my values, or because it's what I've always known?
Consider whether your goals still align with who you are becoming and the life you want to create.
3. What might growth look like if I gave myself permission to define success differently?
Perhaps it means a new opportunity, greater balance, a different leadership approach, or simply being more intentional about how you spend your time and energy.
You don't need to have every answer today. Sometimes awareness is the first step toward meaningful change.
Your Next Chapter Doesn't Have to Resemble Your Last
If there's one message I hope you take from my story, it's this:
You don't have to diminish your past accomplishments to make room for a different future.
Everything you've learned, experienced, and contributed remains part of who you are. Those experiences may even hold the clues to what comes next.
For me, following that silver thread meant recognizing that the most meaningful part of my professional journey wasn't the ladder I was climbing. It was the people I had the privilege of supporting along the way.
My journey continues to unfold, with its opportunities, uncertainties, and lessons.
But I am learning that success isn't always about how far we climb.
Sometimes, it's about having the courage to follow our compass in a direction that feels more authentically our own.
And perhaps that's a question worth carrying into this changing season:
Am I moving in a direction that reflects who I am, what I value, and the life I want to create?
Continue the Conversation
If this reflection resonates with you, perhaps you're navigating a career transition, redefining your leadership identity, or simply questioning what meaningful growth looks like in your current season.
You don't have to explore those questions alone.
At Life Compass Consultants, I support individuals and leaders in reconnecting with their values, recognizing their strengths, and creating intentional paths toward personal and professional growth.
I invite you to schedule a complimentary discovery conversation to explore what matters most to you and what your next chapter could look like.
Life Compass ConsultantsWhole-Person Coaching for Life, Leadership & Clarity
Amy Aguilar, PhD Ca, Industrial-Organizational Psychology Personal & Leadership Coach | Career Development Coach
References
Gallup. (2026). State of the global workplace: 2026 report. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-globalworkplace.aspx
Ibarra, H., Wittman, S., & Smith, K. (2026). Career transition and professional identity: Dynamic processes, multiple selves, and nonlinear trajectories. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 13, 137–163. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-020924-071546
Seibert, S., Akkermans, J., & Liu, C.-H. (2024). Understanding contemporary career success: A critical review. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 11, 509–534. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-120920-051543
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