Career progression in North America is built upon the idea of moving up. You want to make more money? You move up the corporate ladder. Want more responsibility? Move up. And on it goes. So what does it mean if you simply don’t want to move up anymore? What if you never did in the first place? People won’t say it to your face, but some will definitely think you’re strange, or not motivated or ambitious. Today’s post is a reminder to you that that is a load of crap.

You are not broken just because you don’t aspire to move up in a company. You are not broken just because you don’t want to lead a team of people. And you’re definitely not broken just because you’re happy with your current work and paycheque.

Look, as I’ve written about before, life isn’t a competition, and neither is work. Our lived experiences and definitions of success can be so different from one another, that we’re probably not even playing the same game of life. Some have different starting points (like the underprivileged kid growing up in a tough neighbourhood versus the trust fund kid who has a future in an ivy league school built into their DNA). Others have different end points. And we all have our own unique plan for bridging the gap from one to the other. For some, that plan is climbing the corporate ladder.

If, on the other hand, that plan for you is to focus on just being fantastic right where you are, that’s amazing too. Maybe you make the choice to keep the stress of higher levels at bay. Maybe you make it because you have kids at home, and want to have the work-life balance to be there for those key life moments, big and small.

Whatever the reason, it’s enough. If what you’re doing today makes you happy, fulfills you, or even just gives you the space you need to do the things that do deliver those things, you are winning. Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise.