What is success?

Some would say success is profitability or being financially well-off. Others would term success as notoriety and fame. When reviewing this topic I found myself really going deep into my mental framework and discovering how I define success and what makes me successful. In the next few minutes let me open up the vault of what makes up my psyche to you. My definition of success is a combination of financial wealth, notoriety and connectedness in all of my relationships, to name a few.

The goals to “have it all” in every facet of my life are the driving force for me personally. I’m a Libra and while I don’t follow astrology, the sign for Libra is that of the scale which symbolizes balance. I strive for balance in all that I undertake. Sometimes balance that is hard to do, other times it is easier and a rhythm or getting in “the zone” occurs.

First, defining what is important to me and what I value helps me create my goals in the different areas of my life. For instance one of my strongest values is my health. When I am jeopardizing my health by not getting the proper nutrition, exercise and sleep that impacts all other facets in my life and I am knocked out of balance and begin to fall. When planning individual goals the scripture “not requisite that man (woman) should run faster than he (she) has strength” becomes my guiding mantra.

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If focusing on only one area of my life I have found that the other areas suffer.

Success to me is the whole and not the sum of the individual parts.

For several years I experienced a bit of “fame” in one part of my life. Through that experience I found the other values that I have such as family, friends and connectedness to those who support me became second to the “fame.” When I really stopped and questioned deep inside if I was truly happy I found that I wasn’t and there was a large hole.

The secret to success for me is always recalibrating my goals and striving for balance in all areas of my life. Some of the ingredients of success that I would like to explore with you are the following: discipline, sacrifice, commitment and heart.

I have discovered that discipline is fundamental in all aspects of life. Even being disciplined in what is fun. When I was younger I looked at discipline as harsh and unbending. What I now know is that it is a gift. The more discipline I show in all parts of my life the happier I am and the more I can achieve. Discipline is my friend and one of the great examples to me of discipline has been my 16 year-old son. He is very disciplined in pretty much all aspects of his life. I am so grateful for great examples!

Sacrifice is something that I continually strive to improve. I find that when I become more selfish and sacrifice less, pure joy escapes me. Many times the sacrificing of my ego is often the way for me to solve challenges that arise. However, knowing what my core values are helps

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me determine when sacrifice is imperative. Defining those values are the driving force for all aspects of life. Whether or not you realize what your core values are you have them and make thousands of different decisions everyday because of them.

Next on the list is commitment. I have in my office a picture of a runner before sunrise running through the forest getting her workout. Whenever I get tired and feel like giving up I think about this picture and reflect on what it is I am striving to achieve. Honoring commitments bring peace. When other distractions raise their head remembering the commitments that I have made help me to stay focused.

Lastly comes the heart. You may be wondering why I list this trait. I love people. I love meeting and connecting with them. I guess you may also call this passion. But the secret to my success has been the heart and passion I have put into my work, family, relationships and life. When my heart is broken I go through a grieving process but as I am going through that process I ask myself what can I learn from this situation and how can I be better and apply my heart next time.

So success becomes a private definition for each one of us.

Everyone and I mean everyone is successful in ways uniquely to them. The secret is to discovering what it is for you and what makes you successful. As I opened the vault of my psyche to you are you ready to explore your own vault? Here’s to a happy opening.

Linda Yates has more than 20 years of experience in sales, customer service, marketing, business development and fund raising. She has spoken on topics such as leadership, customer service, personal development and growth, business marketing and communication. She has written for national publications on marketing strategy planning and development and has been a highly sought after asset

for a variety of businesses and organizations.

She currently leads the exciting and diverse real estate training experiences on behalf of an industry leading organization. From online

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seminars to workshops to boot camps, she implements the educational programs that help investors and first-time home buyers thrive in today’s real estate market. With extensive project planning, public speaking and educational training experience, Linda distills complex issues into easy- to-understand messages that help individuals from all walks of life achieve their real estate goals.

Prior to working in the real estate industry, Linda executed motivation and training programs to thousands of individuals from several Fortune 500 companies on their internal processes and strategic initiatives throughout North America.

She is no stranger to the world of technology where she advised middle market companies on leveraging their existing business systems and to how maximize their customer relationships through technology.

Linda’s expertise is being a conduit to facilitate growth from a personal or business setting. She believes that if you “talk” about it, you better be willing to “walk the talk”.

To learn more or to contact Linda directly, e-mail her at lhyates@excite.com

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