Success is a journey. Not a destination.
Opportunities don't happen. You create them. - Chris Grosser
The Eve team was privileged recently to be invited to be part of the Teraju SUPERB Boot Camp 2019. We met many young women with hopes and dreams of entrepreneurship. They came from varying experiences but here’s what most have in common -- they are, without a doubt, a talented and ‘hungry’ lot. They all have their dreams of success.
Eve Writes | 13 November 2019
Some dream of success more than others but here’s the underlying vibe… A lot of people go through life today, thinking it’s a race, there is competition in just about everything that we do, and we all put it under the umbrella of one word - “SUCCESS.”
Everyone wants to succeed which is good but the question is how are you going about it?
Also are you willing to do what it takes to be successful? How are you going about it simply means, are you working smart, what is your strategy, how do you execute, and most importantly, do you have a clear reasonable blueprint that you follow? Are you willing to do what it takes to be successful simply means do you have the self-discipline, perseverance, and the commitment it will take for you to meet your set goal?
Not all budding entrepreneurs starts off their journey with a clear picture of where we are going in life by setting reasonably attainable goals along the way. We are constantly advised that, we need to perpetually motivate ourselves and one method we can do this is through defining our short-term and long-term goals and defining measures on how to meet them as you walk through life.
Sounds simple enough, but say for the everyday mumpreneurs, most realized, that it can be so overwhelming at a particular time especially when you’re juggling family commitments and running a start-up out of your dining room and it usually runs on good faith and lots of (we mean, lots of) coffee.
One cannot always get what you want but most importantly, it’s about not giving up on yourself or your goals, remember success is not a destination we are rushing to -- it is a journey, therefore every road along that journey you will experience different outlooks, sometimes the road might be rough and sometimes it might be smooth.
The doing is more important than the outcome
Firstly, life is no fairy tale, but yes, there are those who look at life through rose-tinted glasses -- where everything will work out fine and just perfect.
In being an entrepreneur, DO expect problems, expect challenges, and look for solutions when they come. Learn to be action-oriented and always believe in yourself. Understand there will be a time (or even times, to be honest) you will fail, but any time you do, don’t focus on the failure and allow it to define you, but rather learn from it, take every broken piece of that failure to come up with something extraordinary.
Secondly, you should not define success in terms of your material possessions but rather, who you are. We admit, everyone's definition of success is different where some sees success as tangible and others see it as how far they have achieved in life.
No matter how you define your success, strive more to be self-disciplined while achieving your goals. Success shouldn't be about pleasing others but being confident living your own life (loving yourself, family, and friends). People may not always support your dreams or notice or even know your struggles so sometimes you might even be discouraged by the people whom you thought were supposed to give you all the support you need. Such situation can create depression, but you have to train your mind to rise above all negative thoughts and environment.
Make every moment of your life count and surround yourself with positive and successful people. Do not consider vulnerability as a sign of weakness, everyone gets to the place they are today with some little help, ask for help when need be.
We all need someone to lean on during our highs and especially during the lows. And it is not about age nor about who has the most experiences either. As an entrepreneur, it does not matter what you are going through now, but one thing you should note is, whatever happens along the way does not determine your success because we all have our ups and downs, our breaking points and peak points.
Face life as it comes with courage and determination, smile every step of the way, with the hope that all will be fine someday.
It means that what matters is not necessarily where you are at the end, but what you accomplished while you are trying along the way.
It means that no matter what, as long as you try, you can never fail. But you need to know how to learn from your mistakes and continue on the next journey a little wiser. AND don't forget to enjoy the process every step of the way, because
Success is never a destination. It is a journey.
