Washington Post – On Success By Michael Berland - November 2, 2009

Q: How do you define success?

Success is about fulfillment. Success is achieved by using your natural way of being and your own personality as a path to chart your own course. But you can learn to develop your own definition of success from the stories of people who maybe are or were like you -- how do they define what feels fulfilling?

A common theme that most successful people share is that they define very early on for themselves passions they wanted to pursue or worlds they wanted to be part of -- fashion, sports, broadcasting, Broadway, business. Of the 50 mega-successful people whose stories we collected, most of them felt that once they were in those worlds or engaged in those passions, they began to feel successful and fulfilled.

In our research for our book "What Makes You Tick?: How Successful People Do It -- And What You Can Learn from Them," my co-author and I identify four main success archetypes.

Visionaries see what others do not. These are the people who change our world, who see beyond the accepted models.

Natural-Born Leaders find their fulfillment in managing complex challenges on a national and global scale.

Do-Gooders get their satisfaction comes from working for the greater good and helping other people. They are all about personal contact and connection.

Independence Seekers want to live life on their own terms --- to do what they want when they want. They are inspired and challenged by a specific project rather than a position.

Personally, the success archetype that I fit best is "Independence Seeker." I am fulfilled by pursuing varied interests and working with lots of different people, clients and projects over time.