Consider a New Definition of Success

INTERNALITY · LEADERSHIP & CULTURE

There is a growing awareness that it is time for a new story for humanity. The old story, where money and power define success, is fundamentally flawed.

History has shown us, again and again, that the current narrative does not work. Despite the best intentions of many within, the narrative ultimately arcs toward corruption, abuse, conflict, and war. It generates pain, suffering, and fear; it harms the planet and diminishes the human spirit.

Within this paradigm, those oppressed by the money-power elite inevitably rise up only to repeat the same destructive cycle. For generations, we have found ourselves caught in the perpetual allegory portrayed in Orwell’s Animal Farm. We have long lived within the archetypes of winner or loser, conqueror or conquered.

We are beginning to understand that this definition of success is not sustainable, nor meaningful, nor aligned with the flourishing of humanity or the living Earth.

In our current reality, the rise of corporatism and the acceleration of technology have contributed to an unprecedented concentration of global wealth. At the same time, the very foundations of democracy are being strained.

Institutions that once guided society—governments, religions, laws, and social norms—are grappling with their own relevance, leaving us with a diminished capacity to correct our course. And yet, within this unraveling, a deeper knowing is emerging.

The challenges we face are not isolated problems; they are symptoms of outdated beliefs and systems giving way to a more expansive human consciousness. This is a time of crisis, but also a threshold.

Reimagining the System Begins Here

The opportunity before us is to co-create a new paradigm rooted in mutuality, interdependence, and shared prosperity. We can shift toward win/win, more wholesome futures where innovating for the greater good is no longer idealistic, but an essential need no longer fettered by the economic system.

This paradoxical moment of disruption and discovery is fertile ground for reimagining our world. We are beginning to understand that “We the People” must take responsibility for shaping our future. We can’t wait for others to take the first step. We must recognize that we are the agents of that change, and we are enough.

The good news is that this awakening is already underway. Across the world, people are rejecting the status quo and seeking more meaningful ways to live, work, and be in community. People are awakening to the understanding that we can no longer live separate from one another, or from the Earth. We are remembering that all life is interconnected and interdependent, part of a living whole, and that we fundamentally belong to one another.

If we look beyond the headlines, we see a story unfolding where entrepreneurs, businesses, grassroots communities, and everyday individuals are coming together to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges not from a place of competition, but collaboration. Through the rapid expansion of digital connectivity, billions of people are now able to organize, share ideas, and mobilize around shared visions and values. Communities are forming that transcend traditional boundaries, moving away from hierarchical, exclusive structures toward more inclusive, participatory ways of being together.

In these spaces, a new definition of success is taking shape, one that values contribution over accumulation, connection over control, and the wellbeing of the whole over a narrow focus on individual gain. This emerging consciousness is igniting global movements that are both hopeful and practical. People are no longer asking for permission to create change; they are stepping forward and doing it.

Like the DreamMakers I have encountered throughout my work, individuals everywhere are bringing bold ideas to life and transforming their communities. In doing so, they are contributing to a larger shift in our world.

This movement is growing, quietly yet powerfully. What once seemed impossible is becoming possible. As one young man from a Puerto Rican community in Chicago expressed in the documentary, DreamMakers, directed by Paloma Suau:

“There are pockets of hope developing all over the world, pretty soon there will be so many pockets of hope, that there will no longer be pockets—it will just be.”

Redefinition Requires Ongoing Alignment and Reflection

One challenge of our human mental models is that we often try to attack a problem in a compartmented way. But if you seek to reinvent or transform the economic system as we do at Internality, you must start with a high-level view of leadership, people, and culture. It must all align, or else there will be a disconnect.

You need a North Star when navigating new ideas and territories—a clear, fundamental, collective vision. What is your leadership philosophy and mission? What does a thriving, flourishing, healthy economic system look like?

You also need a rudder to keep you on course toward your goal. These are established guiding principles. They should come from the heart but still be flexible enough to allow cohorts the freedom to discuss their interpretations.

Internality’s Pivot Labs are designed to allow exploration under a guiding set of visions and principles. And importantly, they provide ample inherent opportunities to discuss, revisit, and revise. Even when you know exactly where you want to go, you never quite know what course the journey may take.

Beneficial change and transformation come from aligning and realigning your vision based on experimentation, new revelations, and having the full spectrum of perspectives from critical groups who should be in the room. All of it is part of the journey.

Never Underestimate Human Potential

Throughout history, every great advancement was once considered impossible, until it wasn’t. The seeds of a new world already exist within each of us, waiting for the right conditions to emerge. The idea of innovating for the greater good is breaking free from the margins. It is rising, gaining momentum, and approaching a tipping point.

I believe this is our time, our opportunity, and our responsibility as leaders, dreamers, and innovators to come together and co-create a system where success is measured not by what we take or accumulate but by how we live, what we give, and by how much life flourishes because we lived.