Over the years I have watched, read and heard about public figures of all types and their stories of success. Recently, I was visiting with someone about her husbands career in music. His experience was very impressive, playing guitar for some very well known groups. Was he famous? Nope..I have never heard of him before. I am not even sure if he thinks of himself as being a successful musician?
One thing I have noticed between success stories...everyone's level or measurement of success is very different! So it has made me think and reflect on my own idea of what success looks like, do I even know what it is for me? If I don't know what success looks like for me, how will I know when I have it or not? Is it money, fame, unique experiences? Just by asking myself these questions I am becoming very excited by the idea of discovering how I truly see myself and clearly defining my success story!!!
I guess I should start out with...what results do I WANT to create? Clearly, I am not driven by money because based on results I would still be working a job as a Construction Consultant/Administrative Assistant where by financial standards I was very successful. One thing I have discovered is I am motivated by relationships. How do I know this...based on results...I stayed in the same job for 10 years even though I was not happy with my job to provide for my children. Interesting huh?!?! When I was diagnosed with cancer several years ago I had the rare opportunity to dig deep into what I REALLY wanted out of life because I was being faced with not having enough time to do the things I wanted to do and experience. About a year later while I was attending a series self development seminars...I got another opportunity through a couple of different exercises to experience that again! So here I am sharing that experience with all of you now! When I looked back over my life, I asked myself a simple question...how will I be remembered? I realized at that moment I hadn't really lived, I was playing just to get by, make ends meet, no risk, going through the motions and I had done nothing really substantial to speak of to be remembered for! Now, here's an even better question...How do I WANT to be remembered? We are right back where we started with results!!! For years I had been telling people that I wanted to travel, go to the beach, see the world! I still want to do all of these things and as often as I can AND now by taking a risk to follow my dreams of singing I have been doing all of these things and more! Something else I have discovered, by following my dreams I am inspiring others to do the same...without even realizing it I am now making a HUGE difference in the world!!!
I believe for me that my level of success is a living breathing thing! I continue to learn, grow and experience new things all the time, therefore for now I consider myself very successful for taking risks, following my dreams, building relationships. I have proven to be very successful at booking show dates (250 Shows in our first year as a band!), learning new music and growing as a singer. My success story will be different next year as I have learned and grown in other areas and now master a brand new set of skills...how exciting!!! Will I be famous? Yes, I believe I will be very famous!!! Just imagine the success story I will be sharing then...ups and downs including some really good "Peanut butter and jelly" stories to inspire others to keep going....it isn't always easy and I know all of this will be worth it!!!
Super curious, what does success look like for you? Leave your comments below!