Success is not what you think it is
You may think success is hitting a certain revenue in your business, or getting on a big stage, or writing a best seller.
It’s not.
It’s about learning to savor the moments between.
It’s about doing the hard stuff because you WANT the results.
I don’t always like working out.
But I love having worked out.
So I do it.
I like being in great shape. I enjoy having toned muscles. I am happy I can keep up with my kids’ endless energy.
I don’t always like writing.
But I like having written.
I love seeing the comments from people who have been helped by my blog posts. I enjoy the sense of accomplishment from completing an article. I get a kick out of watching my blog traffic go up.
So I do it.
Even when it’s hard. Even when I’m stuck. Even when I am feeling like NOT doing it.
That’s success.
It’s about showing up again and again.
Because YOU are doing it for YOU.
I have big dreams about where I want to go as an entrepreneur.
I think about all of the people I want to help.
And, of course, I imagine the thrill and excitement of getting accolades or being recognized or having a bajillion-dollar business.
I think about some of my favorite authors and speakers and entrepreneurs and I glamorize their lives.
And then I get back to work.
I sit my butt back down in my chair and I begin to plunk away at the keyboard again, writing another blog post, article, email.
I record another live stream or video for Facebook or LinkedIn or a course I am creating.
Or I take myself on a hike or to the gym.
Or I tell my kid to be kind to his brother (for the 10,000th time) because I want him to grow into a decent human being.
Because I know that true success is in the process.
It’s in the little moments.
It’s in the steps of making the THING happen.
Sometimes, success seems like it must be fame, fortune, glamor, excitement, admiration, and accolades.
The truth is those are just occasional peak moments.
Success is actually about a deliberate series of tiny steps in the same direction that eventually results in a creation.
From the first creation, it is a continuing series of intentional steps that result in more creations.
Eventually, all of these creations become your body of work.
Your body of work can be the business you create, the book you write, the marathon you run, the stages you speak on, the documentary you film, the children you raise, the quilts you sew, the boards you hammer together, the gardens you tend, the hundred pounds you lose, or all of these together.
Success is not the peak moments.
The truth about success is that it’s not particularly sexy.
Success is an insane amount of sweat, grit, stubbornness, and repetition.
It is often quite boring and frequently mundane.
When we are succeeding…there is no applause.
When we are succeeding…we are often by ourselves.
When we are succeeding, we are enjoying a smile from a friend, or a hug with our puppy, or a flower that just bloomed.
When we are succeeding, we are IN it.
When we are succeeding, we are punishing our muscles through pain to sprint up the hill or struggling to find the next perfect word to write or fumbling through learning a difficult song on the violin that we decided to learn to play in our 40s or trying to find the perfect next sentence to say to a loved one because they need our help today.
You are successful when you move in the directions of your dreams, relentlessly in deliberate, boring steps.
You can accomplish anything you want.
But you have to take action now.
And tomorrow.
And the next day.
You have to show up over and over and over.
Persistence and tenacity always win.
Success is in the process.
And in your own courage.
And in living up to your own expectations.
You got this.
