So what are my “3 Keys To Success?” Lately, I’ve been stuck in a negative space. It’s not a happy place. As you would imagine, it has caused me to ponder why. Allow me the opportunity to share an experience that happened a very long time ago but still resonates with me today.
My 3 Keys To Success
I had the very good fortune of attending a small business conference for women on a weekday evening with my best friend. The speakers were amazing, and the message was all about women in business, their challenges and what some are doing about these challenges. While at the meeting, many of the women were encouraged to introduce themselves and talk about their business.
I found myself struggling with my introduction. Even though I’d prepared my short elevator speech, I found it lacking. What I’d planned to say was, “I was a senior leader in my prior life. Now I’m actively seeking a new adventure in a blogging business of my own.” But I didn’t. What I settled on was something like this – “I’m setting up a blog – two, in fact, writing a few books and vector art tutorials for the novice… wonk, wonk, wonk.” How boring. The hard truth was, with the realization, I learned I was struggling with my current direction and my next steps. With that realization, I understood why I was having a hard time making any headway.
Later as I reflected on that event, I realized that this event helped me clarify and reinforce what it was I needed to do. It helped me to identify some of the holes I needed to plug. This realization was an unexpected, uncomfortable, but welcome surprise. Fast forward to today. I find that I’m in the very same place, struggling yet again with the very same things with the same questions. What now? What next? What should I do?
What I realized then, as I do now, there are 3 keys to success and they are quite simple.
Attitude is key – This attitude thing will take time. I do better on some days than others. The biggest challenge is not allowing myself to slip into a negative thought or space. You would think this would be easy, but it’s not. The negative thoughts are like little demons. They sneak in and before I know it these little demons take over, and I am in a negative place. To remain positive will be an ongoing work in progress.
Looking for a new way to grow my business is a challenging full-time job. In fact, the process of doing this sucks at times. This ongoing challenge is where negative thoughts often surface. All it takes is a conversation with a successful contact, a well-intentioned piece of advice and lastly the feeling of being very alone in this endeavor. These things along with a myriad of other items contribute to self-doubt. I do pretty well guarding against these little demons a good bit of the time, but at times they take root and then all seems impossible.
Take Care Of Myself – I need to get back to walking and doing light-weight training every day. I very much enjoy the walk. The light weight training is more of an acquired taste. Aside from adding to good health, these activities alone help to put the rest of the day on a better footing.
Take Action – Aside from the many hours I spend working on my blog and looking for a new opportunities, I’ve accomplished a good many things. With the help of my Webmaster, assistant, and editor I’ve published two books, written and formatted another book, and editing is in full swing for a much-anticipated cookbook. I’m poised to start work on my first of many drawing tutorials. When I find I’m not making any progress and I’m in a negative mental space, it helps if I review my past achievements. A list of what I’ve completed to date and any notes for future projects I have on hand helps to move my mind to a better space. After that, I’ll try to step out of my comfort zone and do something different, something I haven’t done before. There is nothing quite as exhilarating when we’ve succeeded at something new.
What this has taught me, then and now, is each of these “3 Keys To Success” work in tandem with each other. The truth is I’ve always had these 3 keys to success in my hand. I just need to use them, not every once in awhile, but all the time. If I’m actively engaged in doing each of these things, I function in an organized, healthy and productive manner. When I do this, I find myself moving forward to accomplish what I desire. Someone once told me that if you are “in the game,” new opportunities would reveal themselves in good time, advice that I need to heed.
Do you ever feel stuck? What actions do you take to move yourself out of a negative space? What are your keys to success?
Life’s journey continues…
If you appreciated my “3 Keys To Success,” take a look at When To Quit, Choices Of All Kinds, and Confidence, What Is It?.