My definition of success

Just read Netflix co-founder Marc Randolph’s definition of success:

I’ve worked hard, for my entire career, to keep my life balanced with my job. In my book, I write about my Tuesday date nights with my wife. For over thirty years, I had a hard cut-off on Tuesdays. Rain or shine, I left at exactly 5 pm and spent the evening with my best friend. We would go to a movie, have dinner, or just go window-shopping downtown together.

Nothing got in the way of that. No meeting, no conference call, no last-minute question or request. If you had something to say to me on Tuesday afternoon at 4:55, you had better say it on the way to the parking lot. If there was a crisis, we are going to wrap it up by 5:00.

Those Tuesday nights kept me sane. And they put the rest of my work in perspective.

I resolved a long time ago to not be one of those entrepreneurs on their 7th startup and their 7th wife. In fact, the thing I’m most proud of in my life is not the companies I started, it’s the fact that I was able to start them while staying married to the same woman; having my kids grow up knowing me and (best as I can tell) liking me, and being able to spend time pursuing the other passions in my life.

That’s my definition of success.

– Marc Randolph

Now, that’s my kind of definition of success too.

Family. Wife. Children. Parents.

At the end of the day, we don’t remember how hard we worked, how much we made, the revenue milestones we hit. It’s memories like this.

Memories of that dinner date.
Memories of traveling together to someplace new for the very first time.
Memories of seeing a child’s sense of wonder.
Memories of laughing together on the bed during pre-bedtime.
Memories of walking through epic rainstorms together.

Yeah work hard still, but know in the back of the mind that it’s just a means. A resource to live that beautiful life.

Nothing else matters.