Stefanie Hartman looks back at an experience that changed the way she viewed success. Perhaps her anecdote can teach you something new.
When I was working my way through university in the summers, I had a job at a totally rustic resort that was only accessible by seaplane – it was that remote! This place catered to high-powered American executives that paid quite a lot to stay in the lodge, fish, and just get away from it all.
I was the only waitress working there, and I got to spend a lot of time sitting on the dock just chatting with these guys. They were CEOs and top executives of some big companies – these guys owned tons of stock and they were very wealthy. I was a bit intimidated by them because of that at first, but the experiences that I had as I spent time with these people through my summer job showed me that all these guys who were incredibly successful were really just like me – regular human beings.
I mention this because it really served me later on when I got into the business I am in now and started working with these big name gurus – the people on the talk shows, bestselling authors, etc.
I know that a lot of my students kind of feel they are somehow separated from that – that they’re very different or somehow not on that level, which is just not the reality of it. Successful people feel exactly the same way we do. When they do succeed, they feel happy about it, and failure feels just as bad to them as it does to us.
The main difference that I have noticed in successful people is that while they are affected by negatives, they tend not to focus on them. It’s not that they have all these esoteric success strategies that no one else has access to.
Successful people also tend to surround themselves with a team of people that remind them consistently about all the good stuff that they are doing. They get the emotional support from this that is so essential to moving on and keep from getting trapped in doubt and fear.
It’s the biggest thing I’ve noticed among some of my students – they can actually stop themselves or get stuck because of these types of fears.
This is what keeps people from moving forward – it’s not that you are somehow ‘less than’ these successful people, it’s just that you may be allowing these types of stupid conversations to happen in your brain and coming to a standstill because of it!
So today, even if you don’t have a bunch of hired company executives to offer you encouragement, allow yourself to get a boost from your friends, your business colleagues, your own passion for your product or service.
The philosophy comes down to this: Do it and don’t doubt it. Success strategies come and go, but if you’ve got that one down, you’re already miles ahead of the rest!
