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Autumn 2007
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Autumn 2007
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ur newsletter will promote principles of personal success for women. These ideas will illustrate success in the working world, in interpersonal relationships, and in developing self esteem and confidence. Each member will bring special knowledge about attaining personal goals and adding a sense of discovery and excitement to women's lives.
"A truly meaningful and satisfying life does not result from or depend on material possessions, prestigious careers, or a high social status. It is just the opposite. If you have a truly meaningful and satisfying life, you naturally attract and live in abundance."
"Looking back on both our 44-year marriage and my 40+-year career, I realize (with deepest gratitude) that since I married a man who - while never wanting to be rich - was able to earn a comfortable living running hospital laboratories, I was free to pursue activities that truly interested me and reflected the values by which I live."
"When I feel I have contributed value to others, inspired them to live the life they want, I feel successful. Making money is one kind of success scorecard, and yet I see so many women doing incredible things in their careers, and they don't make a lot of money doing it."
"...I believe that success is not about the things we gather to surround ourselves with, but rather with how closely we have lived aligned with our values and the outcomes they have produced. Not that I'm discounting the big home, fancy cars, financial aspects, or toys."
"So many women I've met are doing what they love, but not making a living at it. And as they get older, it's getting harder and harder for them to feel good about their career choice, as the absence of a financial cushion gets more and more painful. But is financial stability and savings the same thing as success?"
Janet Hall has been on leave from writing articles for Defining Women because she was working hard to complete her Doctorate in Naturopathy. Congratulations, Janet!
Janet, who also has a Bachelor's Degree in Natural Health, was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame for "Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Natural Medicine."
New Mexico Business Weekly has named Jane Blume's firm, Desert Sky Communications, the Number Four PR Firm in New Mexico.
The Woman's Advantage, a company based in Raleigh, NC, has named Jane a "top idea maven" because a quote she sent was selected from among hundreds of submissions to be featured in its 2008 Woman's Advantage Calendar.
Recently released, the calendar provides "sound bites of advice" for women business owners - from influential women leaders across the US and Canada - on key business issues ranging from promotions and sales to organizational and human-resource issues.
The Calendar's publisher, Mary Cantando, said that Jane's advice, "Help people without expecting anything in return," was selected because "it was powerful, yet easy to understand. Her idea is relevant to almost every woman in business today. Women business owners and those who dream of starting a business will learn so much from the advice provided by Jane and the other successful women quoted in the calendar."
Carol Akright has launched a new series of educational programs, including the premiere of her weekly teleclass series which starts Wednesday, November 14: WEALTHBUILDING: FUNDING YOUR DREAMS. For a whole year, subscribers will tune into a phone bridge program about how to be `Wealthy with Well-Being."
During the hour-long weekly calls, every Wednesday at 6 p.m. MST, Carol will conduct a half hour of financial coaching and wealthbuilding training, followed by 30 minutes of Q & A. You'll learn the "Wealthy Mindset," "Ten Laws of Dreamfunding," "15 Habits of Wealthy Dreamfunders," along with a step by step process to increase your income through multiple income streams, to learn how to spend your money with prudence, fun, and flair, to gain unique approaches to saving, and to gather a wealth of ideas about the right investments for right now and for you personally.
Couples will learn how to stop fighting about money and to start becoming a financial dream team. Young adults will gain knowledge of the basics of money savvy, how to become wealthy, and how to put their money into their most important life dreams.
Go to www.carolakright.com to take advantage of Carol's "Early Bird" Protege Price of only $100 per household-for 50 hours of wealthbuilding training from the world's expert on Dreamfunding. The Early Bird rate is good through 6 PM MT on 11/14/07, the night of the first call. The regular price for the teleclass is $1,295 per household. If you miss the Early Bird price, anyone who subscribes between 11/15/07 and 12/31/07 will pay only $297.
Carol's website also has information about and registration for her other financial education programs and coaching services. Carol can also be reached at her financial advisory office, (505) 897-1970.
Shelby Smith-Sanclare is now scheduling evening and daytime individual and group workshops to begin in January. These are by phone, so you don't have to leave home or office-merely schedule your time for an uninterrupted hour! Topics of interest suggested thus far are: "Redirecting your goals for 2008," "Attracting positive changes to your life," "Major life changes-how can I manage?" Business topics thus far include: "Am I achieving the success I want for my business?" and "Synchronizing goals and actions for better outcomes." Have a hot topic you think others also might want? Call or email Shelby with your suggestions and questions at (505) 237-2005, or .
Lenann McGookey Gardner reports, "I am back from working in Washington DC; and heading off to Montana; the south of France, Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt; and Prague. This is a lot of new work for new clients - very exciting! We are delighted with the launch of our new website, www.YouCanSell.com, and invite everyone to check out the audio and video clips posted there. Sign up for updates and sales tips if you like!"
hat does it mean to succeed? How will you know when you've succeeded? If you ask people that question, you will get some varied answers. You will hear people compare themselves to others around them or to prominent figures in the world. However, most people equate success with affluence, career status and material prosperity. But is that the real meaning of success? The facts prove otherwise!
It is a known fact that many people endowed with material wealth and prosperity, as well as a prestigious career and high social status, are not happy! And too, what if the prestigious career comes to an end? Or, what if the material things a person possesses are suddenly lost somehow? What if social status drops? Those are things that are subject to change at any moment. How then, could that be real success? Real success should be lasting.
According to statistics, prestigious careers can sometimes intensify life stress. Many people feel even more insecure when they are wealthy and are in fear that they may lose their wealth. Those with a high social status are afraid of losing approval.
A truly meaningful and satisfying life does not result from or depend on material possessions, prestigious careers, or a high social status. It is just the opposite. If you have a truly meaningful and satisfying life, you naturally attract and live in abundance. You will have an enjoyable career you are passionate about, and, you will be respected and regarded highly by those who know you.
So then, if success is not on the outside, real success would have to come from within and lead to a truly meaningful and satisfying life. When I asked my 78 year-old father what success is, he replied, "I used to think it was making a lot of money and being productive in my career, but now that I am older and wiser, I believe you are successful when you take good care of your family, have good friends and your kids come to visit you after they are grown."
I then asked my 16 year-old what he thought true success was. He replied, "True success would have to be feeling peace, tranquility and happiness, because those things are inside of you. " He's quite deep for a 16 year-old! And, he's quite right!
How many times have you heard yourself or others say, "I'll be a success when I make a million dollars," or, "I'll be happy once I find my soul mate," or I will feel successful when I have my dream house." Or perhaps they say, "If I get my Ph.D, I'll really feel I`ve been successful," or, "I'll feel successful when I lose weight."
If I do this, or when I have that… all of those beliefs put happiness and true success at bay. We begin chasing happiness and success through things outside of ourselves, chasing what we think will make us happy, only to find it doesn't. Complete success and happiness comes only from within. So, true success is a place to come from - not to chase, achieve, or do.
Humans have a tendency to watch what others do, have, or are - to compare themselves with them. But, what is right for someone else may not be anywhere near what is right for us. Only we can make ourselves happy.
How? We visualize and feel what success feels like. That internal feeling of success and happiness, no matter what your status in life, if simply acknowledged, will begin to create and attract the means of expressing it through an enjoyable career, creativity or whatever means of passionate expression that is right for you. You must feel success and happiness during the process, not only when you make a million dollars, find your soul mate or acquire personal possessions.
This is precisely why statistics show that people who retire generally die within five years of retirement. They spend their lives looking forward to the end goal of success - full retirement with an accumulation of wealth - with which they can spend their days in any way they would like. But after reaching their so-called "success" and retiring, they don't feel successful. They have not experienced what success feels like inside along the way.
When the goal is reached and they do not feel success and happiness, they sometimes die feeling empty and that life was meaningless. This is because success was pushed out to the future; it was not enjoyed along the way. If we don't feel successful now, what would suddenly give us that feeling in the future? The truth is you have to find success and happiness in yourself now.
If you ask the average person at a young age what they think success is, and then ask them 10 years later, chances are the amount of money they thought would make them feel successful would be much more, the career level higher, etc., etc. If success is outside of you, you could be chasing it all your life, never feeling you are successful enough. Or, you can use it as a place to come from, to acknowledge and to live from.
When you come from success inside yourself, you are happy in the moment, and expressing that happiness through whatever means you choose. When you let go of the idea of the future somehow bringing you success - it shows up inside of you in the present. It spontaneously comes up when you are living in the present, acknowledging your success throughout your life journey. Eckert Tolle is a great believer of this concept and has written about it in his book, "The Power of Now." It talks about the empowerment of living in the moment.
The success is in you throughout the journey, not just in the end result. If success is equated only with when it arrives, it implies that success is only a destination, when in truth; success is simply expressing your joy and living passionately - moment to moment. It is when people feel they really are on the path that is authentic to them.
Another way people measure success is with the idea that successful people don't have challenges. But life, yes, even successful life, has challenges! For example if you feel very successful in life, but decide to expand your business - you'll have a challenge. Life is about good challenges that help us grow. When there are no challenges left, you are generally dead! So then, measuring the amount of challenges in your life is not an accurate way to judge your success either.
Let me leave you with one very interesting thought - when you were in the process of creation, of all the millions of sperm swimming to the egg, only a dozen made it. The egg opened only to receive the one sperm it wanted: you are the joining of that sperm and that egg!
Also: 50% of fertilized eggs reabsorb before they implant in the womb. Therefore, you are the 50% that implanted for life! The question is: Do you resonate with a constant state of gratitude because you were supported in coming into life against all odds? If you do, that was the beginning of your success!
If you have been measuring your success by all the external things discussed in this article, it is time to go inside and relate to your success in this moment in time. If you would like some help in doing this process and getting your beliefs about success on track, you may call me at (505) 294-WELL (9355); or, please visit my website at www.alternativewellnesscenter.org to see just what techniques are available to aid you.
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Jane Blume, editor/publisher of our Defining Women newsletter, celebrates 41 years of professional work in communications this year. Jane founded Desert Sky Communications in 1989 to help businesses, non-profit organizations and individual entrepreneurs "get the right messages to the right audiences." Desert Sky's services include public relations, marketing and advertising strategies and execution; writing and editing; corporate identity; photography; facilitation; and innovative radio programs. For more information, call Jane at (505) 294-1976, email to or visit www.desertskycommunications.com. |
While I was in college, I thought that since I was two years younger than most of my classmates (thanks to an accelerated program in the New York City public schools, I received my Bachelor's Degree at the age of 20), I wouldn't marry for at least five years after I graduated. I also thought that since I had grown up in a medical family, I would probably feel more comfortable being married to a physician.
As luck would have it, and despite my professed "timetable," in my Senior Year I met a medical student named Phil, and it soon became clear that both of us had found a soul mate. Within nine months of our first meeting we were married, and will celebrate our 44th wedding anniversary this month.
Phil and I certainly never made an affirmative decision about exactly when we would have children. But after four years of marriage and on the eve of a planned month-long trip to Europe, I discovered that I was pregnant with Kathy. Arthur arrived three years later.
Today, our children are married to their own soul mates and they are passionately pursuing careers that really interest them.
My own career path was certainly never planned; it just evolved over time. After majoring in Russian language and literature in college, temporarily flirting with the idea of going to medical school, and then obtaining a Master's Degree in the same area as my undergraduate major, I stumbled upon an opportunity to work for the-then U.S.S.R. Branch of our government's official radio network, The Voice of America.
I was 24 years old when I created my first radio show and stepped in front of a microphone to record the script in Russian. Immediately, I realized I had found my calling - and I've been working in radio continuously since then. (Today, you'll find me hosting two shows on KUNM-FM, our local public radio station.)
My second career, in public relations, unexpectedly developed as a result of my interest in public affairs issues. We were living in Minneapolis when Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated; in response, a fellow resident of the Twin Cities decided to create an organization called Buy Black, whose mission was to promote the idea of supporting and patronizing African-American owned businesses. Wanting to do my part to promote equal opportunity, I joined Peter Hoffman's brainchild as a volunteer and soon found myself producing Buy Black's monthly radio show.
After moving to Portland, Oregon, I continued to assist other non-profit organizations with their PR efforts until we relocated to Albuquerque 20 years ago. After experiencing success here in several jobs that nevertheless proved to be short-lived, I decided to establish my own PR business and see what I could do with it. Although I closed down Desert Sky Communications for two years to run KUNM on an "interim" basis, I re-opened it in January of 1995 and have kept it going ever since.
I created - and continue to maintain - Desert Sky as a sole proprietorship (with the assistance of subcontractors) because I wanted to lead the creative work, and didn't want to have to hustle for contracts to keep people employed. I am fortunate that my clients and I share some important values, which makes it very easy for me to help them gain visibility and recognition and tell their great stories. And since I don't "do spin," I sleep with a clear conscience.
Looking back on both our 44-year marriage and my 40+-year career, I realize (with deepest gratitude) that since I married a man who - while never wanting to be rich - was able to earn a comfortable living running hospital laboratories, I was free to pursue activities that truly interested me and reflected the values by which I live. I didn't have to worry about how much money I would need to earn. (Thank you, Phil!) I also realize how lucky I am because many people do not have this luxury.
Therefore, if I were to focus on the typical American measure of success - how much money I have earned and accumulated - it would be very easy to feel that I have not achieved it.
However, when I think about:
Our long-term marriage, which reflects a profound commitment on both our parts…
How close we are to our children and (very importantly) to their spouses - even though all four of them live in New England…
Our groups of wonderful friends in the three places where we lived for extended periods…
No regrets whatsoever on my part about the two career paths I have pursued…
Desert Sky Communications, which has attracted most of its clients on referral from the day I opened the doors…
This little sole proprietorship, which has been ranked among the top PR firms in our state for the past three years (by New Mexico Business Weekly), and…
The voluntary professional organizations to which I've belonged, whose leaders have asked me to join them in positions of responsibility…
Then I feel in my heart and soul that (to date) I have lived a positive, meaningful, successful life.
Like the rest of the human race, I have made my fair share of mistakes. Like many, I have not been as close to my family of origin as I would have liked to be. But I choose to live in the "now," to appreciate deeply what life has brought to me, and to not look back on the past with profound regrets, wishing I could go back to re-live it.
Afterword: I dedicate this article to my soul mate, Phil. I finished writing it a couple of weeks before he was diagnosed with an acute leukemia. He knew that the odds were very much against him for a variety of reasons. Nevertheless he chose to fight, with the proviso that we would put him in a hospice situation if we found that we could not save his life. Unfortunately, he lost his brave battle and died on Saturday, October 27, surrounded by a lot of love and peace. He leaves a huge hole - not only in my life and our children's lives - but also in the lives of so many people who adored and admired him. I believe that I am honoring him by choosing not to make any changes to this piece.
've asked three people close to me how they would define a successful life-a life well lived. "What would a successful life be, for you?"
My husband said, "Achieving happiness." That about sums it up for lots of people.
My best friend, a stay-at-home mother, said, "Bringing up a child who has choices in life and is poised to move ahead and be the best he or she can be."
The third comment, also from a woman, was, "Not being at the mercy of anyone for financial well-being-having power in a relationship and being able to leave if you want." You might have guessed that she is not in such a position herself.
I think of success as multi-dimensional-feeling fulfilled in whatever aspects of life are important to you-be it relationships, health, career, personal interests, friendships, integrity, adventure, and fun. I think we succeed in each such arena at different levels of accomplishment. For instance, I fully expected as a young woman that I would marry and have a family. When I discovered I could not have children, I felt like a failure in one of my greatest dreams-to build a family life. Somehow, having just a husband didn't feel like I had gotten everything I wanted. To be honest, I still feel that way.
Yet, I have a wonderful child who is part of my life-my goddaughter - the light of my life. I could not have imagined a daughter that I would be closer to than she. So, I feel I have succeeded in being a mom, of sorts-a godmother. That role was a great gift I received form a friend of mine who died of cancer at age 44-she was the birth mother of my goddaughter.
In other areas, I feel totally successful-such as in adventure and travel, I have visited over 60 countries abroad, including taking a trek in Nepal after I myself survived breast cancer at age 51. I've also published a book-and that was something I always wanted to do.
In my career, I've enjoyed two interesting types of endeavor-as a television reporter/producer, and a financial advisor. Even now, I'm embarking on a third career, as a public speaker and a life-planning (as well as financial-planning) advisor.
When I look at what makes me feel successful in my careers, it's not all about money. When I feel I have contributed value to others, inspired them to live the life they want, I feel successful. Making money is one kind of success scorecard, and yet I see so many women doing incredible things in their careers, and they don't make a lot of money doing it. Yet, they feel fulfilled in their jobs or businesses. That feeling of success I think is success.
Some of us get derailed from our original paths toward success. Whether it was caused by a change in the industry (buggy whip manufacturers went out of business when the automobile made their product obsolete) or by circumstances such as experienced by my friend who became a quadriplegic in his forties from an auto accident - their lives totally shifted in new directions.
My friend now lies in bed and rarely leaves his apartment. This was a man who was athletic, single, handsome, and rich. Many would say his life is so circumscribed in its usefulness or opportunity because of his physical limitations. Yet, he lives an incredibly rich intellectual life, with many friends who call and drop by; and although he is fortunate not to have to work for money, I'm sure he could. Instead he manages his investments, discusses economics and politics with my husband every week, and engages in a successful life of friendships and intellectual pursuits. Indeed, I think he is a happy person-so if happiness spells success, he's made it.
Knowing if you've achieved success is an inner awareness, really. It has to do with a kind of deep satisfaction that eludes many, and comes late in life for quite a few. Perhaps it takes knowing oneself really well, and many of us are so busy rushing toward what we think success is that we fail to notice if we've already arrived. I have fallen into that trap myself at times. It often takes a wake-up call, like getting cancer, or losing a friend at a young age, to make us stop and assess what we have-what we "should" be grateful for-as well as what we still have left undone, not accomplished, or what still eludes us.
My father once said that if he could get up every day and like the person whose reflection he saw in the mirror, then he felt successful. I like that idea, and I know that many of us, especially us women, are terribly hard on ourselves. We look at ourselves so critically, see where we have not yet measured up, and forget to count the wins we should acknowledge. Our lives are already so abundant, in so many ways, from all the material `stuff' we've acquired, to the richness of experiences we've enjoyed, to the wealth of friends and loving family members we can count on to add joy to our life.
What I wonder, though, is how many of us have the deep, inner peace, a sense of knowing that we are on the `right track,' in our individual lives? Do we get up each day feeling blessed, feeling grateful, and feeling joy? I decided when I was a very young woman that I wanted to live each day, as if it might be my last (this was long before I had cancer). I wanted to think that if I died "tonight," I had a great day "today"-filled with laughter, love, and contentment. I do live my life that way, most days, and I have to say that basically I am a happy woman-I love life-I see it as a precious gift of days to be filled with wonder, exploration, relationships, and contributing value.
I feel that living this philosophy is a form of success-and that I have arrived at a sense of fulfillment day to day. Yes, I still have goals to achieve, more places to see, more money to make, and more value to give back. Yet, when I got up this morning and saw the balloons floating over my neighborhood from the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, in all their multi-colored glory, and the sky was filled with white, billowy clouds and a cornflower blue background, I smiled and told my dog, Parker, "Aren't they beautiful?" And that was a great morning, filled with success.
I hope to have many more mornings like that, and evenings sitting by the fire with a good book, and sailing away on a cruise ship to some exotic destination while lecturing aboard about funding dreams and life enhancement. I'll be sixty soon, and I feel as if I'm not nearly half done with life. So, for the next sixty years, I plan to add more successes, more days of sunshine and joy-and I already feel as though I've achieved success in many important ways. Still, I am certain that are many more ways I would like to try on success than I have so far-and liking the woman in the mirror whom I see, and starting each day with a sense of adventure, and wonder, will be part of my recipe for the next six decades of living.
I hope you think in terms of many decades left for yourself-years to fill with happiness, fulfillment, and your very own brand of success. I'll see you on the road, and we'll both know that the journey is every bit as important as the final destination.
My family lives in Austria; I'm having a year of struggles with health issues; I live in a small mobile home I'm rehabbing, while most of the "things" I enjoy living with are packed away in storage and may never see the light of day any time soon; plus let's say that my finances and retirement are less desirable than any sane person would like to admit. Yet despite all that, I have to say I'm quite content and happy with my life, and to put it bluntly, Life IS good.
We all have basic core values that seldom change much throughout life: honesty, integrity, respect, faith, love, contribution, and compassion are some of these for me. Each person has her or his own individual value-set, and makes different priorities. Then there are other values that change over time, given life circumstances, completion of goals, stages in life, and cultural and physical environments-more what I'd call "situational" values. For me, definitely being alive and walking when at one time I was bedridden and wondering about surviving can be called a situational value!
I mention values, because ultimately I believe that success is not about the things we gather to surround ourselves with, but rather with how closely we have lived aligned with our values and the outcomes they have produced. Not that I'm discounting the big home, fancy cars, financial aspects, or toys. They come from our work and commitment, yes, but these really are up to the vagaries of chance, and although we'd like to believe we're in control, we really aren't. Divorce happens to what we thought were happy-or a least tolerable-marriages; layoffs occur to what was believed to be stable employment; health changes despite our healthy habits and eating what is good for us.
We call the good things that occur, "good luck" and the rotten ones, "bad luck" for a reason, because it is the luck of the draw that provides many of the cultural norms for success we strive for, and to rely on chance as a measure of our success sets us up for disappointment. We've all heard the adage, "It's not the hand we're dealt but how we play the game."
Getting back to values and success, I'd have to say I've been living quite a successful life. Despite occasional slips here and there, I live authentically and in alignment with my values; my daughter is happy with her life, so I consider that I successfully raised her to live her own life to her own values. I enjoy the small things in life that make it so sweet: the abundance of nature and being able to enjoy the sounds of birds or children's laughter, for example. I have loved genuinely with all my heart; and I know that I have touched at least one person with my writing-thank, you Eileen, for your encouragement and support.
And, despite some downers Life has given me, I've maintained my faith in life and the human spirit. I am willing to continue to grow and learn, laugh and cry, smile and feel peace even amidst challenges, and genuinely say, "Yes, Life IS good!" That is what I call Success with a "Capital S," folks.
In truth, we all get to set our own measures of success, and we can change those measures any time we choose. I choose to believe my successes are measured by my values. What do you consider your success, and how to you propose to live your successful life?
"Success is simply a matter of luck. Ask any failure."
- Earl Wilson
y least favorite book of all time is, "Do What You Love, the Money Will Follow."
The author, a well-educated and, I'm sure, well-intentioned organizational psychologist, offers many interesting ideas, theories and researched concepts - but I don't believe that most people with whom I've chatted about this actually READ the book.
I think they read the TITLE, and decided it was a great idea.
A lot of these people changed their lives to focus on their "creativity" - and in the process had foregone their incomes! That makes me so mad! As a business consultant, I'm not sure that I can help many people to actually make a profit on, say, the pots they throw! And while I think it's important for their spirits to throw those pots, I wish I could tell them to keep their pottery pursuit as an avocation - a hobby - and to focus on more well-paid activities to earn the money that keeps their lives afloat.
My favorite creative pursuit is music. I'm a keyboardist, but I've realized, over the last few years, that I am not that enthusiastic about playing keyboards any more. I want to sing! And I do sing. But I don't confuse my minor singing talent and joy in the music-making process with my means of making a comfortable living!
So many women I've met are doing what they love, but not making a living at it. And as they get older, it's getting harder and harder for them to feel good about their career choice, as the absence of a financial cushion gets more and more painful. But is financial stability and savings the same thing as success?
Or is it fulfillment, perhaps, that we should equate with success? With regard to your work, for example, is success somehow feeling that, when you get out of bed in the morning, you're going to something that excites you, something that feels like a real contribution to the world?
I've given speeches about the need for a balance among the personal, the professional, the emotional and the spiritual, and I equate that balance with success. You can do an honest accounting of your life along each of those four guidelines, asking yourself these questions:
- From a personal point of view, do I feel successful? Is my family situation satisfying? Have I formed meaningful, sustaining friendships? Am I taking care of my health - am I fit and at a reasonable weight? And, am I decently well rested and productive?
- From a professional point of view, am I doing work that is interesting to me, and that pays me a reasonable amount of money? Am I growing in my job, able to do at least some new things, and am I still challenged?
- From an emotional point of view, am I basically a happy person, and am I having any fun? Am I feeling as if I make emotional investments in other people, and they in me, and that my life is richer for these investments?
- And from a spiritual point of view, do I have a framework for dealing with the "difficult patches" in life? Do I see myself connected to some larger spiritual reality, and am I able to lean into that belief system when life gets tough, feeling supported and reassured?
If you discover, as most of us do, that you're successful in some of these four areas but not in others, don't bemoan your bad luck; instead, consider focusing on the deficient areas, building them up to successful levels.
But there's a problem with that! Most of us are stronger in one or another of the four areas - and when problems come up, we put more effort into that area where we're already strong, rather than in the areas where we're weak! For example, those of us with satisfying work, when faced with challenges, may tend to work harder; those with a deep spiritual connection to their church or belief system may, when confronted with unhappiness, focus more on their church experience, rather than other areas of their lives that may need shoring up.
I'm always inspired when I see people who strive for balance, rather than just dominance in one or another of these life areas. As a person who does well professionally, I have historically placed a lot of effort into the professional category… and was disconcerted to find that this additional energy investment brought me nothing on the personal, emotional or spiritual level (well, duh!).
It's my goal to change that as I move forward, and to stop sacrificing my personal life, my emotional wellbeing, and my spiritual growth on the altar of my small business. I'm eager to learn the next set of lessons that will enable me to achieve a better and more balanced experience of success, and I wish the same for you!
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