How will you know when you are successful?

March 2, 2018

by Hanna Hermanson

How will you know when you are successful?

This is a question I’ve gotten less and less comfortable with. It used to be an A, then a graduation cap, then a steady job, now… It’s so much less clear what “success” is.

And this week, I decided to adapt the mantra “I am always being guided”. Mostly because I’ve been meditating (and watching tons of Gabby Bernstein on YouTube)… yet I was still finding myself trying to plan and control some outcomes that I named “success”.

So, Tuesday morning I freely hopped on my bike to go to the gym, as usual. La tee dah… #dreamlifeisreallife.

But when I returned to my bike, I found a popped back tire. I wasn’t planning on this… I was planning on coffee down the street, a solid work session, a new yoga class and running a few errands.

Is there a bus around here? Could I get a ride to a bike shop? What if I ran home and got an air pump? Then I smiled and said, “I am always being guided”.

Here was clearly a sign that my day needed to shift, and that I literally needed to slow down. So, I happily found a latte, did a little work, and eventually walked to yoga. (Even got an Instagram posted!) All good.

After yoga, I thought I would keep walking, and get some work done on my phone. But, little did I expect that while I was power flowing, my phone was powering down. My phone, and plan C was dead.

What?

“I am always being guided.”

I returned even faster to my mantra after this twist. The simple and calm smile that came back to me felt like huge success.

Mindfully, I began walking home, and wondered about what I was being guided to. I needed to slow down, and unplug, and learn about bike maintenance, and enjoy this walk, and clear my mind, and… WHOA… answers to questions I had been forcing for days came to me. I had been working on some new resources to share with my Dream Team, but wasn’t finding the right ways to organize my thoughts. I was researching, designing, grinding away, and failing to create the outcome I wanted. But on that cell-phone-free-walk-with-a-broken-bike, I was guided to clarity.

I think THIS is success! It’s not about the gold star, or promotion, or a perfectly scheduled day. Success is about being, seeing and feeling what you want.

How will you know success when it shows up?

 Try the experiment- just for a day or two!

Choose a mantra, it could be mine, or something else that reminds you to return to your best self. And notice how your life gives you exactly what you need.

Boss making you stay late? “I am always being guided” to a quiet bus ride home!

Traffic jam? “I am always being guided” to hearing that perfect podcast.

Sun glaring as you pass a the window? “I am always being guided” to vitamin D.

It’s not comfortable to just start walking around with “hippie” mantras in your head, and deciding that everything is meant to be. It takes a lot of vulnerability and courage to try something new, and trust that all paths lead to success.

But if you don’t start looking and feeling for success, you will never know when it shows up.

If you keep doing and thinking and reacting in the ways you always have, you will continue to get what you have always gotten. And if you want more, I am here to guide you!…