What does ‘success’ mean to you? What does your success story look like?
It’s a very simple question, yet for many of us it’s incredibly difficult to answer.
When I was 28, I received a major promotion. For the two years leading up to that promotion, I’d led the company through a complete rebranding, repositioning and updated our retail look to attract a completely different clientele.
This job was tough. I was dealing with over 80 years of entrenched beliefs, values and attitudes and I was young (which many people liked to remind me of daily).
I had a strategy, a vision and a goal for where I wanted to lead the bank and it was my job to get all 250+ employees plus the Board of Directors on board with that vision. And then deliver on my promises.
Two years later at the big annual Board meeting, I was promoted to AVP of Marketing + Investor Relations – the youngest person in the 80+ year history to be named an officer at the Bank.
Shortly after the announcement, a 30+ year employee walked into my office and said to me, “Wow, you’ve had a lot of success in your career. What are you going to do now?” (In a not-so-nice voice).
I quickly looked around to see who he was talking to because I didn’t feel successful at all.
One of my biggest problems with having someone call me a ‘success’ is that I didn’t actually know what success meant for ME. I didn’t feel successful. I didn’t feel like I’d done anything super significant.
In fact, I was pretty unhappy at the time. The promotion was anti-climactic and I felt like, is this really IT?
It took a LONG time (and lots of coaching + mentoring from others) to get really clear on what, exactly, success was for me.
Step 1: Define Success For Yourself
How do you define your own success?
Is it defined by your income? Your job title? Your bank account and investments? Where you live? How often you travel? The car you drive?
Is it how well you sleep at night? How close you are with your loved ones? How much freedom you have in your life?
Is it about your reputation and what others say about you?
Or something else entirely?
There really is no right answer here – success can literally be whatever you want it to be. The key to actually feeling successful is knowing how YOU define it.
Step 2: Get Support
Every ‘successful’ person has had a coach and/or mentor to help them jump to the next level with their performance, income, impact and vision.
Oprah Winfrey, who counts Maya Angelou as one of her key mentors, says this about the impact of that relationship:
‘A mentor is someone who allows you to see the hope inside yourself.’
Sir Richard Branson, Founder of the Virgin Brand counts Sir Freddie Laker as one of his key mentors as he was struggling to create Virgin Atlantic. He credits his early mentor with helping him break into the airline industry. Branson often quotes Zig Ziglar as he talks about the importance of mentorship:
‘A lot of people have gone further than they thought they could because someone else thought they could.’
Many of the biggest tech legends of recent history have all cited mentors:
Steve Jobs of Apple was mentored by his college friend, Robert Friedland.
Bill Gates and Paul Allen of Microsoft were mentored by an early boss Ed Roberts.
And the list goes on and on.
The point is this – don’t try to create success on your own. Find a coach, mentor, teacher – someone who will help you go from where you are today to where you have the potential to grow tomorrow.
Step 3: Celebrate Your Journey
Arthur Ashe is famously quoted to say:
“Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.”
This is so true, yet how many times do we wait to for the ‘perfect’ time, circumstances or recognition from others?
I know I’m super guilty of this myself!
And you know what? Everyone’s journey includes successes, failures, struggles, hurdles, facing fears, taking imperfect action and so much more.
The journey isn’t just about the ‘wins’. It includes the ENTIRE journey and celebrating everything along the way.
For example, when I got really serious about building my business I had to start doing sales calls. Just thinking about doing that made me feel sick to my stomach… but I knew if I didn’t start asking people to actually work with me I would NEVER have a business.
I set a goal to ask one person a week to work with me.
It took me about six weeks to actually ask someone to work with me… and then the first time I asked someone to work with me, they said NO and ended our conversation very quickly.
I celebrated that like a crazy person. Hooray, I had done it! Asking someone to work with me, even though they said NO and hung up on me… is worth a HUGE celebration!
This was so critical in how I began to re-write my success story. By celebrating the goods, the bads and the (really) uglys, I began to feel more successful (even when I blundered and fell down on my face).
Re-write Your Success Story
Here’s what I’ve learned in my success journey. Being uncomfortable and challenging myself are a key part in my success journey. It doesn’t matter what the outcome is – it just matters that I show up and take a step towards my own definition of success.
Want to find your own version of success? Decide what success means to you, find a coach/mentor to help you on your journey and join me in celebrating everything on your journey too.
While you are working on your success story, find out what marketing funnels can do for your business! Take this fast and free quiz to learn what kind of marketing funnel is right for you and your business. Then layer on your personal secret sauce and see what a sold out business looks like to you.
