Success means different things to a lot of people. Success could be that next certificate, a promotion, a happier life or peace of mind. For most, it’s a healthy combination of the things you hold dear to your heart.
A major path to success is resisting societal expectations especially when these expectations do not align with your ideals or goals. Is anyone telling you: you are too old to be in school or you are too fat to start ballet and dance classes? Ignore and move on. You must search deep within yourself to know what enlivens you with purpose and passion in life.
Today’s piece is a focus on several female trailblazers in various fields and how they define success in 2019.
“Success is defined by the relationships I build”
Success is defined by the relationships I build and amount of effort put into understanding why an influencer, brand, product or service perform the way they do. I also aim to understand the benefits and results provided through feedback communication with a consumer.
When I pay attention to the detail a business truly needs, doors open for me. This has made me realize that 2019 is not a year to rely on ‘Hope marketing’, but to ask for help when needed in regards to mentorship, next goal strategy, mindset, and meaningful introductions.
Most people don’t realize the power of the “ask”, follow up and how supporting others missions help open doors to success. I’ve discovered being creative, humble and taking massive action provides endless opportunities. — Tamara Thompson, Founder of Serious Take Productions, and Host of Broadcast Your Authority TV
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“Success is working on achieving your potential while smelling the roses”
For me, success is created in seven steps, or what I call the “Roadmap to Success.” The first two steps are simple, yet very important: you get clear on the minimum knowledge that you need to possess in order to get moving and you start planning a brief course on how will you acquire that knowledge or skills. The next three steps involve taking action and becoming competent, which leads to feelings of confidence and then you use that confidence to take more action. If you did all of the above steps right, you should have created enough momentum to get to the last step, which is enjoying success and keeping the flow going.
Most people never get the success that their soul really desires because they completely skip the first two steps, so they either take action too soon (without enough knowledge) or they fail in setting a minimum knowledge bar, and in turn they never take action because they constantly feel like needing another course, another mentor or another seminar.
I’d go a step even further and say that the basis of success lays in feelings of true self-confidence and self-esteem. If we feel truly confident in our abilities, we’re already successful, no matter how far we are from truly achieving our goals.
In 2019, however, it’s time we embrace risk, disappointment, small hurts, and even unrealistic expectations. This is the year when we need to become courageous and look at where we are on the “Roadmap to Success”, so we can understand what are the steps that need to be taken in order to reach the final stage.
To me, success is working on those seven steps while making time to enjoy the journey, smell the roses, eat gelato and watch a good movie every now and then. — Roswitha Herman, Success Coach and Best-selling Author at RoswithaHerman
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“Success is an internal and external balance”
Success is getting to enjoy everything that surrounds you, both professionally and personally. Success is an internal and external balance. Success is feeling comfortable with the decisions you have made and being pleased with where you are in this moment.
I am in that place where I feel that success is breathing down my neck. I think 2018 has served me with a lot of lessons through which I grew and evolved. I’m ready now.
What should happen in 2019 so I could feel successful? For me to be able to keep climbing and enjoy the view. — Iustina Faraon, Co-founder and CEO at Coreto
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“Success is about owning the starring role in my best show ever”
Because I’ve dedicated my work almost exclusively to middle-aged women, my idea of success has changed over time. I have learned to base it on a concept called “PrimeTime.” Middle age, for women, is PrimeTime.
It’s the time in our lives when we’re most qualified, intuitive, insightful and READY to air our best show to our widest audiences. But so often—because we don’t plan the second half of our lives with the same gusto we did in the first half, or because we believe the lies the world feeds us about aging and settling–we end up running reruns in PrimeTime.
For me, success in 2019 is about owning the starring role in my best show ever. It’s about allowing myself to really be seen and leaning into my grandest aspirations. I’ve chosen to measure success this year not by revenue generation or financial results, but rather by my willingness to push through the discomfort required to imagine and create a second half to my life and career that totally turns me on.
After nearly 30 years of facilitating traditional strategic business and marketing planning, I started 2019 with a different kind of plan: a list of actions I must take in order to finally get what I want. And as I lead other PrimeTime women through the same exercise, I’m delightfully reveling in their successes, as well. — Juju Hook, Speaker, Brand Strategist, Author and Coach at JujuHook
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“Success is being connecting two talented people to reach a common goal”
Success is luck and constant strategic executions combined. Success exists – it just needs to find us working.
When I look back at the things I’ve done in the past, it’s only by tracing and connecting dots that I come to a realization that all of the seemingly small bits and pieces that I’ve been working on in the past are all adding up to the wonderful things that I am currently working on.
As the old adage goes, “From small and simple things, great things can come to pass”.
Success is relative for many people – for some, it’s about battling the inner demons that constantly try to distract us from achieving our goals. For others, it’s closing that much-coveted sale. For me, whenever I’m able to connect two talented people to reach a common goal – that for me is the epitome of collaboration and success. — Jonha Richman, PR Advisor for Blockchain Startups and Partner at JJRichman
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“…feeling you get when you overcome odds and obstacles”
Love is truly what matters most. You can have all the money, power, fame, or attention in the world but without genuine connection with great people, it’s all meaningless. Why be rich but lonely? Money can’t buy true happiness.
Business is also about people. It’s about uniting talents to solve real problems. Success to me is about solving problems and creating value for the world. Legacy and intellectual resolutions to compulsive curiosities. Balance is something I’m still trying to figure out.
Peace of mind is also challenging when you’re a risk-taking researcher with an analytical detail-oriented personality. Success is also about overcoming challenges and the addictive feeling of accomplishment that comes with personal bests. The feeling you get when you overcome odds and obstacles — that adrenaline rush. It makes you think “What ridiculous thing can I do next?” and then it’s about just going for it because why not?! — Rebecca Spour, Shareholder at Digitizing Assets
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“Success is a wild journey”
Success in 2019 is a wild journey into distributed applications and economies with regenerative currencies; a shrinking of wealth inequality; a personal and profound experience of the human dignity in each human that I engage with; attending to and appreciating the physical, spiritual, intellectual and emotional well-being of myself and others; forwarding an intentional, participatory experience of growing a community and technology addressing hard issues in post-democratic societies.
Growth, learning, facing and going deep; adjusting and including, and ultimately listening to and connecting. This is my personal, my professional challenge in 2019. — Mary Camacho, Executive Director at Holochain
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“Success is finding 15 minutes sometime during the day to meditate”
As the mother of a two-year-old, working in the hyper-competitive and fast-paced startup world of Blockchain/cryptocurrency/fintech staying ahead of trends, time management, and productivity is everything. Success in 2019 looks like a balance of maintaining our roadmap, launching an online global community, remaining present for my family and starting EMBA program.
I consider a successful day to be getting through my, “to-do list thank you Full Focus Planner,” finding time to connect with my team to ensure they have what they need to be successful and finding 15 minutes sometime during the day to meditate.
If I can look back at my previous week and say, I hit my weekly goals at work, I was an active and valuable member of our team, achieved a work-life balance, ensured I spent quality time every day with my daughter and husband, found time for myself and maintained some semblance of serenity all while ideally getting 6-7 hours sleep I consider this a success. — Michelle O’Connor, VP of Communications and Community at Uphold
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“Success is being satisfied of your life”
In my opinion, success is being satisfied of your life in general and there is not a universal measure for it, everyone has her own. For example, a housekeeper who was able to maintain 3 children and paid their studies could maybe be considered more successful than a CEO with a 70m yacht, or maybe not.
As a young professional, for me success is made of small day by day achievements which never come for free; it is never giving up on my failures and learn from them; it is trusting in further improvements in what I do. — Maria Magenes, CMO at Aave
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“My journey of success in 2019 will be purposeful”
For me, success is achieved on a daily basis with mindful actions and decisions both personal and in business. ”Success is a journey, not a destination.” In 2019, my destination is the four pillars of success: happiness, health, wisdom and wealth.
Each pillar is clearly defined for both personal and business goals. They will guide the decisions, choices, and actions along my path, and also give me strength and courage in times of difficulty, stress, and fear my path will surely include. My journey of success in 2019 will be purposeful, with thoughts, actions and decisions each day, week and month toward happiness, health, wisdom and wealth. — Raina Casbon-Kelts, CXO at Gilded
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“Success is an inner feeling, a gut feeling”
For me, success is an inner feeling. A gut feeling. It is not about numbers and graphs, it is about the feeling of creating value for others. Value can be created and dispensed in your job or in your private life. The old but gold adage; “It’s the journey, not the goal”. has been expressed in a thousand ways in today’s context. Personally, the adage unlocks new levels of truth every day.
If you feel successful in your job, but you have no one to share the feeling with – friends, family or a partner – then what is it worth? For me, 2019 will be successful if I feel the joy around me as well as inside me. It is a two-way street. I’ll try to listen more to my stomach and less to the rational and clever choice. When I look back, my gut feeling has always been right – especially when I didn’t listen to it. I will be less afraid, more open-minded and more indulging with people expressing grey energy. If I can make them smile then that to me is a success. — Camilla Høpner, Chief of Innovation at Industriens Pension
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CONCLUSION
Everybody strives to be successful in whatever we endeavor to attempt. Creating a culture of success in our homes, our work environments or teams is a joy to behold.
Successful people know how to tap from their inner desires and propel themselves to excellence. They also know part of the climb to the top means you may lose before you truly win.
From this piece, we have learned that these amazing women are determined, dodged and smart enough to know what sets their soul on fire. Do you?