There is a definite hierarchy to Success.
A hierarchy is an ordered set of levels of objects and ideas in this case. In the Success Hierarchy, these are linear, meaning that they come in a certain order. They are also like a building in that there is a foundation and each level above that is built on the level below it. Unlike a building, the level at the top isn’t the pinnacle or the crowning achievement. I’ll get to that shortly.
The first level of the hierarchy is our Values.
Our Values are the foundation for everything that follows. Everything that we do is formed by and structured through what we hold as most important in life. Sometimes our Values can be conflicting, and that causes stress, anxiety and ultimately failure if the conflict is great enough. When we violate our personal Values, we almost always have to justify it to ourselves. It’s only a little thing. It doesn’t really matter if I do this one thing. It won’t hurt anybody. Nobody will know.
If you find yourself thinking those thoughts, it’s a sure bet that you’re doing something you know is wrong or violates your Values. Sometimes though we do re-prioritize our Values temporarily for a greater good down the line. That’s OK. That’s for a good, usually involving others. It’s when we do things for selfish reasons that we usually violate our Values.
The second level of the hierarchy is our Vision.
Our Vision, or Vision Statement, is a description of the life we want to have at some point in the future. It’s how we’ll live. It’s about who’s in our lives and the impact we have on those around us and in our greater community. Our Vision should be about the life we want that brings us joy and satisfaction, not about the money we have or the stuff we collect. Our Vision is the “what” in our Success Hierarchy.
The third level of the Success Hierarchy is our Mission.
Our Mission, or Mission Statement, is the vehicle that gets us to that Vision. We’re probably working on a career, a business or a vocation of some kind. That’s the kind of thing that is central to our Mission. What career, business or vocation do we want or feel called to that will give us joy and satisfaction while serving others and impacting the most people? Our Mission is the “how” in the Success Hierarchy.
The fourth level of the Success Hierarchy is our Goals.
Goals are the major steps, milestones or projects that allow us to fulfill our Mission and get us to our Vision. Goals are not the primary part of the Success Hierarchy, even though most people probably think of them that way. Goals are the part we will work with day to day, but they are the means to the end. They help us measure our progress to our Vision. They help us formulate the plans and the process of getting from where we are to where we want to be.
The fifth and final level of the Success Hierarchy is the Gut-Check.
The Gut-Check is where we evaluate each level against all prior levels to make sure they’re compatible and in harmony with our Values. If we have a priority that says our family is our highest Value, yet our Goals include working 12 hours a day, 7 days a week for years to come, how does that honor our Value of family? If our Goals include working 12 hours a day for the next 6 months so we can get our business started and secure our family’s financial independence, that is a temporary elevation of our work over family with the ultimate goal of making our family life better.
These five levels are always working. Always. We probably don’t realize it most of the time, even if we’ve never heard of the Success Hierarchy. We won’t always have a well-defined idea of what each one of these levels entails, but they’re still there. We all have Values, our own or someone else’s. We all have a Vision and a Mission, our own or someone else’s. We all have Goals, even if they’re not really what we want or work against our Values, Vision or Mission.
Knowing the Hierarchy is there and how it operates will allow you to become more in tune with what’s around you and what you’re trying to accomplish. It’s really the framework that all Success must be built on.