choose them. We all deserve prosperity. The starving artist syndrome serves no one. Yet fulfillment in life means knowing what we want while appreciating what we already have and having the self-worth to think independently and create a life that's original.
Webster defines success simply as “a favorable or satisfactory outcome or result.” I like to add the adjectives “heartfelt” and “personal” so that you can visualize results that express your true self. Whether you are twenty-four or eighty-four, it's time to stop the lies. For example, I have a client now who keeps brainstorming with me about ideas for this elaborate international consulting business. But if you look at her overall life goals, she really wants to only work twenty-five hours a week. That means that her business plan has to be carefully designed to target the work that can be done quickly for the most fulfillment for her in terms of either impact or financial reward. It may take her several years to achieve this model. The best time management strategy in the world is letting go of fantasies and working within your own desired paradigm. Successful people focus on the outcomes that resonate for them—creating viable businesses that service their customers and clients—and so they can revel in the joy of that heartfelt, personal set of goals.
The best time management strategy in the world is letting go of fantasies and working within your own desired paradigm.
I interviewed many successful women for this book. Here are some of the unique elements of their definition of success.
Ali Brown, millionaire entrepreneur, mentor, CEO of Ali International llc, member of the Inc. “500 in 2009,” and leader of the Millionaire Protégé Club and the Shine Conference:
Success for me, in the beginning, and this may be true for everyone, was liking the stuff. I wanted the house and the car and I love my creature comforts and I love beautiful things. But once I reached these goals, I looked around and said, “Okay, now what?” I've got this gorgeous house on the beach and I have a wonderful life; what is this all about? And I realized that success is truly being just true to myself and that whatever I define success to be, that's what it is. And I think women need to give themselves permission that success can look like exactly what they want it to look like. I'm here in a big way and building a global business to empower women entrepreneurs internationally, but not every woman wants to make some of the sacrifices I have made.
Gillian Drake, serial entrepreneur, editor, writer, and publisher of many books and the Cape Arts Review, real estate designer and developer, and now a medical intuitive:
To me, success is living on your own terms, being who you truly are, being your authentic self. I know that the standard definition of success means a high paying, prestigious job, the perfect marriage, a beautiful home—the American Dream, I guess. But that's not for me. I need freedom, independence, and a series of creative projects to work on in order to be happy.
(You should see her villa in Italy that she redesigned and built.)
Lisa Sasevich, known as “The Queen of Sales Conversion,” author of The Invisible Close, and leader of large workshops like Speak to Sell Bootcamp:
. . . The reason I feel successful the most is really that I feel blessed to have healthy children, a loving husband, and work that is meaningful that makes a difference. As I discovered a few years ago, my blessing is to help experts who are making a difference to get their message out—people who love what they do but hate the sales part—and last year my business took a quantum leap from $130K in sales to 2.2 million in sales. I also feel successful because I can be an inspiration to other women who also have a busy life, to be able to really create the lifestyle of their dreams and make a huge contribution at the same time.
Victoria Moran, author of ten books, including Living a Charmed Life, spiritual-life and holistic health coach:
I see my success as moving forward each day as a spiritual being having an earthly experience. I believe that this life is extremely important. I don't have the idea of “Oh well, you know, work and the body and things like that are physical so they don't matter.” They matter tremendously. But when I think of success it has to be both—the here and now and the forever after.
Sheri McConnell, CEO of Smart Women's Institute of Entrepreneurial Learning and author of several books, including Smart Women Know Their Why:
Western entrepreneurial women will save the world and our mission is to create positive change in the world—making the world a better place.
Caroll Michels, career coach, artist advocate, author of the classic book, How to Survive and Prosper as an Artist, and creator of the ArtistHelpNetwork website:
I'm happy. I mean it is just as simple as that. I'm happier than I have ever been in my whole life and I just wake up happy.
Chellie Campbell, creator of the Financial Stress Reduction® Workshop and author of The Wealthy Spirit and Zero to Zillionaire:
The number one thing I want is a business that I run, not one that runs me. I want work to get me to a life, not be my life. I want my life to be beautiful. I want to have a lot of time off for fun, to enjoy the ride of it.
Brenda Michaels, co-host of Conscious Talk Radio, emotional and spiritual coach, and author of an upcoming book called The Gift of Cancer: Awakening the Healer Within:
First and foremost, I define success through relationship with myself, and how well I take care of myself. How well I nurture myself and how well I allow myself to honor my feelings and my needs, and my willingness to bring balance and harmony into my life. I believe this is important because we can't truly give to others what we withhold from ourselves. Living this way allows me to give love in such a way that there is peace and integrity in my personal relationships, as well as in my professional relationships.
Jeanne Carbonetti, watercolor painter and teacher, owner of Crow Hill Gallery, and author of many books, including The Heart of Creativity:
Yes, I do feel successful and for me, success is doing what I love and being able to make a living at it and I am able to do that. It also means feeling like I am fulfilling my purpose in life. I have a strong sense that everything in my life was guiding me to be devoted to teaching the power of beauty and that's what I spend my time doing.
Dr. Elizabeth Stewart, MD, physician in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and researcher on fibroid treatments:
I do feel successful. For me it means being able to do work that is interesting and challenging and to have some element of creative fulfillment as well, and also being able to balance that with life outside of work.
Deborah George Tsakoumakis, founder/owner of Wire a Cake/HB Bakery Connections®, a company that sends cakes all over the world, including to many of our troops overseas:
Yes, I feel successful. And as far as success, we have to define success as not exactly measured in dollars, but rather success in knowing that I have accomplished something that has had a positive effect these past twenty-three years when I started the cake business. I see the effects that my cakes have had with respect to the families that receive them, especially my military families. I send families a picture of the cakes I ship and I'll get emails back from an army wife, for example, and she will say, “I'm in tears right now, looking at this cake, and knowing that I can send a cake to my husband who is deployed, has made all the difference in the world.
FALLING IN LOVE WITH YOUR WORK
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