Riding Your Storm of Success

Fate whispered to the warrior, “you cannot withstand the coming storm”, the warrior whispered back, “I am the storm” - N. DeMille 
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People say that in order to succeed you have to find your purpose. A feat that many would agree is easier said than done. Others tell you that it is all about finding a focus and working hard. And many would question, “yes, but doing what?” Finally, others say it is about being persistent and getting to be really good at something, to which many would ponder, “how can I find that thing?”

​Richard St. John did the research on what it takes to succeed and wrote a book about it, “The 8 Traits Successful People Have in Common: 8 To Be Great”. He also has a short TED talk highlighting these traits, “Secrets of Success in 8 Words, 3 Minutes”. He uncovered these traits by asking over 500 successful people from all walks of life about their secret to success. He summarizes his results in the following eight traits that he was told led to success:

• ​Passion
• Work
• Focus  
• Push 
• Ideas
• Good 
• Serve
• Persist 

I find these traits to be common among the successful people I know, but they still do not answer some important questions. How does one go about finding a purpose? How do you find a focus? Where do I get that special idea from? You will gain more insights if you read St. John’s book since he details the tips and strategies that his successful participants shared.

However, if you decide not to read the book or if you read the book but still have questions; the answer to these questions lies in believing in yourself. It is about being truly self-confident; say it out loud, “I am confident”. It is believing in your ability to go on a journey of self-exploration; purposefully self-assess to find out what you are good at in your daily life. And most importantly, it involves boosting your self-esteem; look at every challenge or failure as a learning opportunity.

​In short, it is about being your own storm of success. Are you ready to succeed?

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