I want to share with you about how I got here. I had a good job making money I never thought I would make. Although I hated the job, I liked the status that came with it. Well I got laid off in December 2009. There I was with rent in the amount of $1560 per month, three kids and unemployment of $1612 per month. You do the math, how much was left over?
Realizing that another job was not coming as quickly as I thought I went back to my business. I started my business ten years ago and operated it on a part-time basis for eight years. When I got the job I let my business go. To make matters worse I lost all of my personal and business web sites the same month I was laid off. So now I had to resurrect my business totally from scratch. No web sites, no clients and no money. I found myself slowly coming into a renewed passion. I was getting excited about being in business again. I had absolutely nothing to lose.
So I made the most of my free time. Between job searches I completed training as a Life Coach and rebuilt my business web sites. As of this week all but one of my web sites has been completely rebuilt. That is major progress. I managed to recreate my business with a new look, a new location and new services.
When I first took this on I did not really think about what success would be for me. At that point I thought success would be my ability to make a decent living from my business, so that I would not be laid off again. But almost a year later, I am finally able to define my success. Not just define it but see it. My initial vision is based upon short-term goals that will lay the foundation for the long-term success that will follow.
Dictionary.com defines success as “the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors.” Termination sounds so final but my son said it so simply. He said success is finishing what you started. Simple but profound, sometimes we try to measure success monetarily or materially and we may see failure. But this has been a successful year for me because I finished what I started. I am up and running and ready to do business. My first book is ready to be published.
My definition of success is not about money or material things. Success is walking in abundance, peace and prosperity in all areas of life. In order for me to do that I must finish what I started. More specifically this is my vision of success.
My success involves a life free of debt, a prosperous business that provides a comfortable lifestyle for me and my children and a home that we own, in a neighborhood of our choice, that will allow us to have stability. Success has me working in ministry to give back what God gave to me so abundantly. My financial success will come through my gifts in writing, coaching and business. Success means pushing past the fears and doing it anyway. Success means my children are at peace, settled, happy and reaching for their own success. Success means I am divorced and free to embrace my future to build a new life and make new paths.
The reality of this vision is that all of these things are within my reach. They involve me finishing some of the old stuff so that it can finally be tucked away to make room for the new.
