Growth

New Age, New Perspective

Posted on by xcellenceone

I read over my previous posts. I wanted to see my mindset. I wanted to understand where I was, and compare it to where I am now. I’m happy to say not much has changed. Most of you would think that means that I have not grown, but to me it means my values and beliefs are intact. It means that the things I believed 2 years ago, the principles I stood on, and the approach I took to life still live within me today. That makes me happy. It means I’m not some fly-by-night entrepreneur and success dealer that gives people what they want to hear when they want/need to hear it. I stand firmly on the words I write, and they are truly the foundation of my success.

Besides the spelling mistakes (embarrassing!) I was intrigued by the article I wrote about Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women. I was obviously a bit disgruntled by the fact that only two women on the list were under 30. Now that I am 30, has my perspective changed? A bit, but the ideas remain the same. Success and Power should not be directly linked to age. Often times they are, and I believe that’s unfair. The only nod I give to age when it comes to success is that it often directly relates to maturity. In order to be successful you do have to be mature (but more on that in another post).

I can say this. As off-put as I obviously was by the article (and I use off-put loosely because I simply disagreed more than anything else), I failed to give myself credit for my own success. Looking back on that time in my life I was successful. Did I have billions of dollars? Of course not. But I had a pretty good lifestyle and I was moving in a positive direction. I made the same mistake most of us make as young, new, green entrepreneurs. We choose someone to mirror ourselves after. We select someone as our mentor or ideal entrepreneur that we look up to. Then we make the fatal mistake of comparing ourselves to them. Why do we do that? Why do we put ourselves through that agony? That’s what I was doing. I was comparing myself to those women and telling myself I didn’t measure up. It may have been a subconscious act, but I did it nonetheless.

As you choose your mentor (dare I say idol) or person you want to “be when you grow up” be careful not to compare your right now to their entire journey. Few people write about the long days and nights spent on their way to success. Often times we just see the end result, the polished china, the diamond. But remember, that diamond was once a piece of coal that nobody reveled at. That diamond was just like you are now. And one day, you will sparkle and awe and captivate too.

’til then,

#KeepItSuccessful

Learn to Change

Posted on by xcellenceone

So obviously I’ve taken a few days off. Not sure yet whether it’s a good or bad thing…regardless I’m back.

I’ve been sitting here trying to decide what I should write about. There are so many topics of Success, and each one has been written about. Then it hit me! Isn’t this whole thing, this journey, supposed to me about MY JOURNEY! Duh!

So, let’s talk about my few days off. It’s not that I didn’t want to write, I even had some great ideas. What am I saying, I ALWAYS have great ideas. To be honest, it was my mood. Most of you just gasped at the thought of me, a Leader of entrepreneurs could say that my MOOD of all things affected my ability to conduct business. But let’s face it, we all have our moments. Besides, Success is about learning from mistakes. Isn’t that what all the greats profess? Learn from your mistakes. Mistakes are the greatest teachers of success…and so forth. So my private lesson, will now be public.

Ok, what did you learn Ariadne? Ha, I knew you’d ask. I re-learned about emotional stability. (Yes, I’ve had this lesson before) If each of us is honest with ourselves our great moments as equally as our ghastly ones have an emotional effect on us. When times are great we are tweeting, chatting, smiling, and moving forward. When times aren’t so great we may find it hard to even start our day. Anyone who tells you they’ve never had a bad day is lying, and not worth listening to. I don’t care who they are. Everyone has bad moments, it’s how we deal with them that differentiates us. Most recently for me a difficult few days with a cyclic, non-progressive, but financially necessary situation caused me untold amounts of frustration. It was difficult for me to muster the strength to do something I know I have not been purposed to. My integrity keeps me grounded, loyal (sometimes to a fault), and motivated most of the time. In this particular instance I just wanted out. The promise of what I was doing no longer held value in comparison to what I have been purposed to achieve.

“Although it’s just one step, a single step in the right direction is worth a million in the wrong place.” – Ariadne

So, what’s the lesson? First, I’m sure many Leaders profess to be emotionally stable, but I believe it’s something to be practiced daily, not achieved. There was only one consistently emotionally stable man on this earth and he went by the name Jesus Christ (just Jesus to most). A fly on any other Leader’s wall on any given day will see the good and the ghastly. I don’t profess to be perfect. I repeat that I am a work in progress, I am learning, AND I am teaching. I don’t want to learn from someone who’s isn’t learning/growing themselves. Think about it, if my teacher isn’t learning then once I learn what they’ve got to teach, they can offer nothing more! I want to grow with those who I learn from and with those whom I teach. Leaders who learn demonstrate to their followers that there is no plateau in success. That success is and should always be just beyond you’re reach. I wrote about success as a journey in my last post: Success is an Ongoing Pursuit. If you haven’t read it, catch up 🙂

In closing, a moment (or series thereof) should not affect my ability to provide success and excellence to my following. So, best I can I promise to be more consistent. I promise to exhibit more emotional stability. Let’s grow together. I’ll get better, and of course follow my own advice, and you do the same.

“Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?” – Robert Browning

’til then,

#KeepItSuccessful