How Do You Measure Success?

I had an interesting “a-ha” moment this week. In order to achieve a specific goal, a crucial beginning step is to have clarity on your outcome, right?  For me, I have been working on a program that I plan to offer in January.  I have a specific goal in mind as to how many people I want to “show up” for my next program.  It’s an aggressive goal, but if we don’t aim high, we will never grow.

In all honesty, there’s a piece of me that’s terrified. Of what, you might ask?  I am terrified that:

• No one will show up
• For those that do show up, what they will think of me
• What I have to teach will not be of good value and they will criticize it
• I will omit important material
• The organization of my program will be messy and people will complain

We all have these kind of fears when we are about to step up to the plate. My “a-ha” came to me as I finished my run.  I heard a whisper in my head saying “Don’t measure your success by the number, but rather what you give.” In that moment, I actually got it.  I have been so focused on getting a certain number of people to register for my program in January, that I have lost focus on what I will be giving them, and how it will help them grow…in their business and in their lives.

The thing is, in every personal growth book I have read, or CD to which I have listened, they teach you to pick a number and focus on it, because when you do, you have clarity…and clarity is power. But the realization I had yesterday was that YES, I need to pick a number and focus on it.  However, I should NOT measure my success against this number.  It’s like you have to pick a number and focus on it to give the universe clarity around what you want…but then, you have to let go of it a little and instead focus your energy on what you will give and measure your success by how much you did give.

The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. When you measure your success by a results based number, you give your power away.  In all reality, I have no control over what people will or will not do…including signing up for my program.  But when I measure my success by the number of people that sign up, I am giving my power to something external, outside of me and my control.  No wonder why that feels so scary!  What I CAN control is what I give to them, and that’s how I should be measuring my success.  And to back up a little, I can also measure my value by what I have to give.  How do I know what I have to give?  A whole lot of personal growth and discovery.

It made me think of the Law of Circulation. We are all aware of the Law of Gravity – that if I jump out of a 2nd story window, I will fall down, not up, nor will I float.  Well, there are lots of other laws that govern our life on this earth and one of them is the Law of Circulation, which is simply that you get what you give.  You may have heard of karma.  Karma is just another way of stating the Law of Circulation.  In fact, you get way more than you give.  But the circuit starts with giving.  So, if you want to get (like I want to get my number), I have to start with the giving side.

Your assignment today is to identify one or two things that you have to give and then give it to people all day long. It could be something as simple as a smile or a sense of humor.  Or it could be a little more intellectual like a great tip on a secret restaurant for a client traveling to Italy.  Change your focus on what you have to give, not what you can get, and go give it.  Do this on a daily basis and you will see significant changes in your life.

Oprah Winfrey

The most successful entrepreneurs, like Oprah Winfrey and Richard Branson have a few things in common that I believe are their secrets to success. If you master them all, you will be on the path to a very prosperous future, but also a most fulfilling life.  I also want you to know that:  YOU ARE CAPABLE of mastering these.  Today’s post is about one of those secrets.  Later posts will detail the other secrets.

Sir Richard Branson

Most important however, is they recognize that all their power is inside themselves, and in valuing what they have to give. When that happens, financial prosperity naturally follows.

“Wealth accumulates on the inside before it expresses itself on the outside.”  David Cameron Gikandi, Happy Pocketfull of Money

Sadly, it’s rare when we come across a business or person who has. We all have special gifts and we were put here on this earth to share them with others.  This may seem a really simple concept, but it is incredibly powerful if you live your life and run your travel business by it.

So, step one in laying the foundation to a successful travel business is identifying your own personal gifts and making a commitment to value what you have and then give to others. When you value yourself, a natural side effect is the desire to share yourself with others.  Conversely, when you don’t value who you are, you are afraid to share yourself with others, or subconsciously hide who you truly are, and end up pretending to be something else.  Trust me, that’s not a fun way to live, and it gets exhausting.

Think about this example – let’s say you have a beautiful pendant necklace that was passed down to you from your grandmother. It’s made out of a semi precious stone and set in platinum.  It’s a necklace you have loved all your life and it makes you smile everytime you look at it.

Pendant from Grandma

You have a good friend that is going to a big, red carpet, Hollywood event and she shows you her dress. The second you see it, you know your pendant necklace would be the perfect complement to her dress.  You scream with delight as you tell your friend about the perfect necklace she must borrow.  She is just as excited as you when she sees it, and it looks so beautiful.  Everybody is happy and everybody wins.

Now, let’s look at this same example and change one, simple thing. You still have the pendant, but you never liked it.  Your friend shows you her dress and you tell her it’s gorgeous, but it never occurs to you to tell her about your grandmother’s pendant.  It’s been years since you looked at it and it’s burried away in the bottom of some dresser drawer.

There are a lot of lessons you could draw from this example, but the one I want to focus on is:  when you value your gifts, it gives you immense pleasure to share them with others. You WANT to share them with other people.  When you don’t value your gifts, it doesn’t even occur to you to share them with others, you have buried them away so long ago, that you have completely forgotten about them.

So, today’s assignment is to explore who you are and what natural gifts you have to give. A great place to start is by identifying the things you enjoy doing most.  For some people, it’s terribly obvious, but for others, it might not be so.  A lot of limiting beliefs will come up.  Don’t listen to them.  Today’s assignment is to begin your Safari 2 Success on a personal discovery journey.