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Career Pathby Chérie Carter-Scott, Ph.D.You may not be aware of it, but somewhere inside you there is your definition of success. You have certain benchmarks, either consciously or unconsciously that signify success to you. Are you a successful businessperson? A successful parent? A successful son or daughter? A successful friend? A successful athlete? Where in your life do you feel successful? What is your yardstick? Who are your role models? Is it completing your education, being the best in your field, breaking a record, changing a paradigm, buying a home, making a million or billion dollars, overcoming a disability, having a loving relationship, raising socially responsible children, or making a difference in the world? Here are some incomplete sentences to consider: The people I view as successful are... I feel successful when I... My symbols of success are... I will feel like a success when I... The cover of Lance Armstrong's book reads: winner of the Tour de France, husband, father, son. When you consider his triumph over prostate cancer, his becoming a father is a significant part of his definition of success. For what do you want to be remembered? RULE TWO: WANTING SUCCESS IS THE FIRST STEP TOWARDS ATTAINING IT Do you have mixed messages? I have been around people with money and I notice that many of them seem very unhappy. If there is an unconscious belief inside me that says, "Successful people make lots of money, and money is the root of all evil, then I will unconsciously put the brakes on when it comes to allowing myself to succeed? Do you want to succeed with passion? Does the fire burn in your belly? Do you sabotage yourself when you come close because you can't imagine yourself as "that" person? Ask yourself: If I become the success that I imagine, what will change? Who will I be? I call that Negaholism: self-sabotage prevents your dreams becoming reality Walt Disney said: "If you can dream it, you can do it." I say, "If you can't imagine it, then forget it!" Four things are required if you want to make a dream come true: Desire, willingness, belief, and commitment; Claiming your ambition: tell yourself the truth of what you want, then risk telling others. RULE THREE: SELF-TRUST IS ESSENTIAL What do you want? What is important to you? When are you happy? What is your heart telling you? o What are you passionate or angry about? What is true about you? Do you like working alone or as part of a team? Do you like trying new things or staying with what you know? Do you like flexible hours or more structure? Do you prefer multiple tasks or a single point of focus? Do you like to be outdoors or inside? Are you a morning person, afternoon, evening, or middle of the night? Do you prefer high pressure or a lack of it? Do you like having a boss or being your own? Answering these and other questions will help your sort out the conditions for your optimum effectiveness and well-being Listen to your truth, claim it, own it, believe in yourself and stop "yeah-butting" it! RULE FOUR: GOALS ARE THE STEPPING STONES ON YOUR PATH How do you know where to go or what to do without goals? Goals determine where you allocate your energy, time, and efforts. When you put a goal out there, you want to be sure it is SMART. S stands for specific: be clear about what you want M stands for measurable A stands for attainable R stands for realistic T stands for time-based If you want to improve your golf game, a SMART goal would be: to shave off three shots by making my chipping more accurate by March 15th. What in your life do you want to shift from a wish to a goal? RULE FIVE: YOUR ACTIONS EFFECT YOUR OUTCOMES You can't sit on the couch and make your goals happen unless you have a staff running around executing tasks for you. Doing diligence means that you do everything you need to do to make the outcome happen. This includes "letting go" if you are attached to the outcome. It means making a "To Do" list each day, making the calls, sending the faxes, the e-mails, the appointments, surfing the web for information, talking to people, following up over an over again until you feel like a pest. It means doing today what you could do tomorrow, You could call this being tenacious, unstoppable, giving 100%, but it means that you must do rather than just "be." RULE SIX: OPPORTUNITIES WILL BE PRESENTED Sometimes we can't see the forest for the trees. You may be so focused on what you think should happen that you don't recognize an opportunity when it stares you in the face! Do you recognize your talents? Do you recognize your resources? Do you recognize the opportunities that are presented to you? What are the opportunities that are being presented to you? Are you aware of them or oblivious? RULE SEVEN: EACH SETBACK PROVIDES VALUABLE LESSONS There will be disappointments, setbacks and perceived failures along the way. Anyone who thought the road to their dreams would be easy is na•ve or clueless. Your setbacks may have been romantic, financial, medical, or emotional; no one gets by without any setbacks, challenges, or tests. Are you learning from everything that happens to you? RULE EIGHT: MANAGING YOUR RESOURCES MAXIMIZES YOUR EFFORTS Your time, money, energy, and relationships are your most valuable assets. People constantly say to me: "If I only had more time!" "If I only had another me!" I have done both of these, and let me tell you how. First, when my daughter was seven years old, I decided to move my personal office to my home. That way my daughter would see me in between trips. She would know she had a mother because I might actually be there when she returned from school. With my office at home, I saved one hour per day: 15 minutes commute to work, from work, and then to and from lunch. If you take one hour per day and multiply it times 20 days per month=20 hours times 12 months=240 times 10 years=2400 hours. One year working 50 hours a week =2400 hours. In short, I found another year in 15 minute increments over 10 years time. Are you managing your time, energy, finances, and people to the best of your advantage? RULE NINE: EVERY LEVEL OF SUCCESS BRINGS NEW CHALLENGES When you dream of a lot of money and you get it, then you have to manage it and pay the taxes. When you dream about having a child and you have one, then you have to raise it diapers and all. When you dream about starting a business, and the you do, you have to deal with growing pains, personnel, and all the challenges of technology. RULE TEN: SUCCEEDING IS A PROCESS THAT NEVER ENDS Success is about making your dreams come true, and it is supporting others so that they can too. Chérie Carter-Scott, Ph.D. PO Box 30052 Santa Barbara, CA 93130 Web sites: www.drcherie.com and www.themms.com Email: cherie@themms.com For interview requests, speaking engagements and business proposals:marketing@themms.com Top of this page |