Since childhood, all human beings are in a process of constant evaluation of success . Our parents try to enroll us in the best schools (from their possibilities) in order to face the challenge that is "to be successful". Now more than ever we find schools with so many names, methodologies, theories, that sometimes we don’t even know what they mean.

The reality is that in school there can be a great deal of incredible work, but there are many of us psychologists who vote on how, once people get home, they throw away all previous progress. This is because each person, from their perspective, has a completely different view of success.

What is the relationship between vocation and professional success? In what way do we understand what it means to succeed in life through professional careers?

The generational aspect and the idea of success

Let’s first understand the generational perspective, without a doubt the Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1965) experienced such an important political, social and cultural change that for them work is more than a lifestyle. According to the point of view of this generation, work should be dignified, respectable , and if people lasted 30 years in the same position or company, this was a reflection that success was guaranteed, since it was synonymous with stability not only professionally but also in the family.

Generation X is the one that currently moves the world of work . They received that name because their previous generation could not understand it, in fact, they said they had no direction. The strongest change that this generation introduced in the world of work was to move from electrical appliances to electronic devices, the use of the Internet, e-mail, etc.

The way Generation X members see success has to do with climbing the ladder within companies. For them it is very important to work in some organization, they are looking for economic stability. Few understand entrepreneurship; moreover, I dare say that many view it with fear.

The irruption of the millennium

However, the Millenials, famous for being a controversial and little understood generation, are people who seek success not only in a company . They are looking for short-term projects that help them to express all their intelligence and boost their creativity. They are not interested in working for many years in a company, which is why we find so many entrepreneurs in this generation.

His vision of success is to meet new people, new cultures, change projects easily, be able to manage his time, not depend on an organization, etc.

Forming the new idea of success

We have already seen that the idea of career advancement has mutated over time. So how do you achieve success?

One thing is clear, of course, that people who do what they love have a better chance of success today. Vocation is fundamental in the process of this process , and there is a growing concern for human beings to turn their vocation into some kind of work project. Here we have as an example great characters like Steve Jobs, Indra Nooyi, Jack Ma, among others.

Thus, today the idea of success that is gradually gaining ground has to do with the idea of freedom and expanding the domain of work success to the area of personal development. Learning skills that are meaningful from an intimate and existential point of view, learning abilities that can be transferred to other kinds of jobs, however different they may be from those to which we have become accustomed.

In short, success and vocation have merged into one as a response to an increasingly flexible working environment. This is a reflection of the constant need to adapt to change.

Developing a vocation from childhood

Many times we think that a vocation should begin in the last two years of high school and it is not so, it is a process that lasts many years. For this reason I propose 3 aspects that should be taken into account and at the same time work with the development of the child. These are:

Educational

It is essential that from childhood children learn skills that help them to solve problems , oriented towards concrete objectives. More and more often employers tell us that they cannot find the talent; this is because in most countries they are educated to memorize and not to solve.

Social

When it comes to career decisions, many young people are more concerned about going to the same school as their best friend, boyfriend or girlfriend, than about researching the best option for their future. Besides we have too many taboos about careers (university or not) , which are misdiagnosed. How many times have we not heard “don’t study that career because you’ll starve to death”.

Individual

It is basic that people care about their physical and psychological health. In this way they will be able to face life from a balanced perspective. My best recommendation is to travel, to get to know other places and cultures; that helps to be able to expand the optics with which reality is interpreted and helps to adopt a more flexible way of thinking. Knowing other ideologies, increasing creativity, knowing what is being done elsewhere and what can work in our projects.

The importance of pre-preparation

It is clear that the relationship between vocation and success, comes not only from knowing how to choose a career, but from a long and fun personal preparation. But we must understand that in order to achieve success, we need a clear path and objectives, parents must help our children to know themselves, provide them with information, not stigmatize their beliefs or their vocation and much less think that some or other career is less or more important.

To the extent that as a society we learn to value and respect each profession, we will be able to understand that each one from his starting point is trying to gradually place the step that will lead us to transcendence.