The road to success is a continuous process of getting to know yourself, investing in yourself, betting on yourself, giving it your best shot and learning from your mistakes. Additionally, seeking sound advice and guidance from mentors and reflecting on both your losses and wins to grow. Now, to begin your success journey, it starts with being responsible for your future; taking ownership of your story. Truly successful people understand that they need to live the life that they want and work hard to make that happen. They focus on intentionally living the life of their dreams without choosing to settle for a life someone else told them to live. I have compiled some secrets to success that can help anyone to take full responsibility for reaching their fullest potential and become successful. I hope they will inspire you to kickstart your journey to success!
Get to know yourself and embrace your struggles.
“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom,” said Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher and scientist. Some of the best ways to get to know yourself are researching your lineage to uncover a different perspective about your identity and talking to a therapist can help you to talk to have a better understanding of how you think, feel and behave. The open-ended questions that a therapist will ask you can help you to delve deeper into your past negative and positive experiences for personal growth to take place and help you build the life you want. Therapy can incorporate mindfulness meditation to enhance attention control, emotion regulation and self-awareness. Mindfulness meditation can help you to intentionally live in the present moment with an accepting and non-judgmental awareness of your actions, thoughts, emotions and experiences. Some guided meditation and mindfulness apps that are pretty good are The Mindfulness App, Headspace and Calm – if you are interested, try them out!
Self-awareness can help you tap into your greatness. When you are highly self-aware, you can nurture yourself and objectively evaluate whether your actions, emotions and thoughts align with what you want for yourself. Additionally, when you are self-aware, you will know what brings you the greatest fulfilment in life. I believe striving to live a life of fulfilment brings the most happiness, joy and satisfaction in life. One of the best ways to live a fulfilled life is to use your talents, skills, energy and knowledge for a bigger purpose than yourself! We often find the deeper meaning of our lives when we have been through struggles.
In 2019, Beyoncé had an interview with Elle magazine where she makes an account of how having miscarriages made her rethink what success means to her now. She says, “I began to search for deeper meaning when life began to teach me lessons, I didn’t know I needed. Success looks different to me now. I learned that all pain and loss is, in fact, a gift. Having miscarriages taught me that I had to mother myself before I could be a mother to someone else. Then I had Blue, and the quest for my purpose became so much deeper. I died and was reborn in my relationship, and the quest for self became even stronger. It’s difficult for me to go backwards. Being “number one” was no longer my priority. My true win is creating art and a legacy that will live far beyond me. That’s fulfilling.”
Invest In Yourself
“There is no more profitable investment than investing in yourself. It is the best investment you can make; you can never go wrong with it. It is the true way to improve yourself to be the best version of you and lets you be able to best serve those around you.” ― Roy T. Bennett
This quote is a powerful mantra to becoming successful. It is essential to invest in your emotional, spiritual, physical and mental health to achieve success. Additionally, investing in your education and skills development can bring excellent returns for your future.
Forgiveness is the key to emotional health. Forgiveness involves choosing to release feelings of heavy negative emotions such as hurt, resentment, hatred and anger towards those who have wronged you in the past. Forgiving them allows you to take back your power. If there are past traumas from betrayals, abuse of power, discrimination, mistrust and violence that you may find difficult to process, and ultimately heal, then seeking help from a therapist would be a good investment towards your future well-being. Additionally, taking time to prioritize self-care, maintain social connections, minimizing stress and redefining what success means to you, can be beneficial towards becoming successful.
I believe spirituality connects us to a being that purposely created us and is in charge of our destiny. In the video above, Oprah Winfrey speaks about believing in, relying on and trusting something greater than yourself. I believe connecting to the great I Am can help to keep you centred along your journey to success, and bring a great source of hope, fortitude and comfort during challenging times along your journey to success. You will see yourself rise above those challenges and become stronger. Then, you will sing:
“I found my way through the clouds
No more runnin’ scared and closing my eyes, oh
I will be true, this love from my heart
I’m laying my life on the line
Oh, I will survive (hey, hey)
As long as it’s you by my side (hey)
I will survive (hey, hey)
As long as it’s you by my side
I’m stronger, stronger, stronger (stronger, stronger, stronger, stronger)
I’m stronger, stronger, stronger (stronger, stronger)”
― Stronger by Mary J. Blige
Some spiritual practices that can help enhance hope, patience, confidence, perseverance and courage are visualization and meditation exercises, using affirmations, praying, singing, journaling, speaking things into existence and manifesting through the universal laws of attraction.
Health is wealth! Eating a plant-based diet can better your overall health and transform your life. Going vegan for the first time can be daunting, but I hope that the video above will help you to slowly start taking steps towards eating a more plant-based diet every day.
Find mentors to help you level up
Dwayne Johnson, in the video above, tells the story of how his high school football coach, Jodie Swick, made a positive impact on his thinking, self-esteem and prospects. There are some mentors whom you will meet along your path, and there are some whom you will have to search to find them. No matter how they come into your life, mentors are valuable to shaping and guiding you along your success journey. Mentors can provide a wealth of knowledge that equips you with the tools to succeed. You can always trust mentors to be honest with you about where you need to improve, which is the kind of insight we often cannot see in ourselves. As Isaac Newton says, “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Mentors have a way of encouraging our personal and professional development by posing thought-provoking questions and helping us to focus on our values and goals, which nurtures our leadership potential.
Mentors offer moral support and encourage us to push forward! As Denzel Washington says, “Show me a successful individual and I’ll show you someone who had real positive influences in his or her life. I don’t care what you do for a living—if you do it well, I’m sure there was someone cheering you on or showing the way. A mentor.” Mentors can help us make decisive action towards creating boundaries to have balance and sharpen our focus, discipline and work ethic. When you start a new business venture or make a career move, you often have ideas that have the potential to succeed or not. You can trust mentors to be brutally honest and give you great advice on your ideas. You can also trust them to keep any information you share with them confidential.
The other benefits of having mentors are, they can connect you to their network of people who can invest in your potential and offer their expertise. That could lead to new opportunities that you could otherwise have never imagined for yourself. Additionally, mentors can share the mistakes that they made along their journey that can prevent you from making the same mistakes. Mentors are indeed valuable in more ways than one.
My last key take-home messages
There is no recipe for achieving your idea of success. But there are lessons one can take from the journeys of successful people you admire in your communities and society at large. When you start investing in yourself, think about taking care of your health, mastering your talents, developing your skills and educating yourself. Then, have the confidence and faith to bet on yourself! The best investment that you can make towards your future is to believe in your potential and take a chance on yourself.
Whether you win or lose, always commit to accepting the cards that fate has dealt you. If you lose, then surrender to changing your strategy, work habits, anything that may be making it difficult to move forward. Additionally, when you fail or lose at something or get rejected from something, use that pain and vulnerability, as fuel to be great; to become the best at what you do. To become the best, you need to work with the best in your industry to elevate you. Additionally, surround yourself with people that you can trust.
If you win, congratulations! But, always remember you are never entitled to win. Remain humble and a work in progress. Pursue reaching your fullest potential and living a fulfilling life. The biggest mistake that one can make is to compare themselves to someone they are not. Being compared to others is one of the many challenges that successful people face to dim their light – do not fall into that trap. Instead, focus on yourself and cheer others on who are doing great for themselves and their communities.
My hope for everyone is to see the value of their lives and others, and use their talents, excellence, compassion, understanding, vulnerability, skills, expertise and love to move humanity forward.