During another downturn several years back, I learned a new definition of success.

It was a time not unlike these times.  Many companies have folded.  Many people have been laid off.

In the eyes of the world, these companies would forever be tossed in the “failure” category.  After all, didn’t they run their companies to the ground?

I was, at that time, the owner of a public relations agency struggling to keep my clients and my employees.  While I was discouraged, I wasn’t defeated.  But I didn’t feel like “success” either, until I met professor Erickson from the City College of San Francisco, where I had signed up for a complimentary small business management class.

Professor, how do you define success?”  A dark-hair middle-aged woman at the front of the classroom raised her hand.

The grey-hair, balding professor in a navy suit looked up from his lecture notes and turned in the direction of my classmate.

Well, it’s simple.  Once you have learned and improved upon whatever it is you want to learn and improve on, then to me, that is success!”

That’s it?”  My classmate’s eyes opened wider and shot back instinctively.

Yes, that’s it.”  The corners of my professor’s lips turned into a smile.

I sat quietly, but my mind was processing that simple advice…

Once you have improved, then you are successful.  Yes, I think that’s what he just said.

Those simple words had a profound effect on me.

I began reflecting on some business challenges, but came to the conclusion that hey, I was still a success!  Why, because according to my professor’s definition, as long as one have learned or improved from an experience, one is a success!  So on that particular day, no matter what I felt about the state of my business, I was proactively sitting in a classroom, improving my small business skills.  So, I have crossed a small, personal success milestone!

After that, I started rewarding myself for little, personal victories.  Hey, I outreached to five prospective clients today.   Hey, I worked with our webmaster HelloAri to complete our website revamp.  Hey, I created a great marketing campaign today, etc. etc.  Soon enough, these personal victories grew and began manifesting as public ones, and we started winning more clients and awards.

Once you have improved, then you are successful.  Yes, that was what he said.

How refreshing!  Perhaps the secret of happiness lies in our perceptions of success.  Have you had days when you feel discouraged because you are so far away from reaching your goals?  Consider carving your goals into smaller pieces.  Say you’d like to run a marathon one day.  But it overwhelms you.  Why not start by going to the gym and runing for 10 minutes today and adding on the miles incrementally afterwards?  So long as you are learning and making progress, hey, you’re a success!

What goals are you working toward?  What successes have you had recently?  Do share.  Remember to see them in smaller pieces, so you have more reason to pat yourself on the back and more reason to celebrate.

Here’s to your success!

If you enjoyed reading this post, you might be interested in these too:

• Success or Failure.  Does it Matter?
  
• A Vision for Your Life
  

This post is dedicated to my friend and former colleague, Christina Cheang.

Image by ToniVC via Flickr

I was in a fancy Chinese restaurant in the Lion City, sitting across from Christina C., a dynamo of a woman and the new Singapore leader of our international public relations agency.  We were deep in conversation as the waiter filled our cups with Puér tea and served us plates of steamed sea bass and herbal black chicken.

I was wrapping up a two-week business trip.  My life in San Francisco seemed so far away.  Well, literally 8,500 miles away.  Yet my mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, twirling about everything I needed to do before I left, and everything that awaited me when I return.

“How am I going to find the time to do everything?”  I said as I wolfed down the sea bass and emptied the tea cup.  “Within the next week, I’ll be making five presentations.  Two here, and three back in San Francisco.”

Christina looked at me through her stern, maternal eyes.

“Slow down, Sharon.  Don’t you know that time is elastic?”

“Time is elastic?  What do you mean?”  I rested my chopsticks, momentarily.

“Well, you and I think that we only have 24 hours a day.  But have you ever been so engrossed in something that you lose track of time?”

“Well, yes.”  My eyebrows arched higher as I leaned toward her.

“Have you ever felt like hours have passed, when in fact, it had only been minutes?”

I nodded.

“You see, when you are inspired to act on something, you will always find the time and energy to dive into what you’re meant to do.  And when you get ‘in the flow,’ time becomes elastic.”

Inspired, I returned to my hotel room that night and whipped together a powerpoint presentation in under an hour, pleasantly surprising myself.  I experienced first hand the meaning of “time is elastic.”

Christina C. taught me an invaluable concept, and I have often reflected on those three simple words since our memorable dinner almost two years ago.

Tonight, I saw the Michael Jackson movie “This Is It” for the first time.  Those around me lamented that it was such a shame that he died so young.

Then, suddenly, the three words, “time is elastic” popped to mind.  I started thinking about his lasting impact on music, and on the millions of people around the world.

The “King of Pop” may have passed on, but his music will live on in our hearts and minds for a long, long time.  Michael Jackson has forever outlived his 50 years and succeeded in stretching time to its maximum elasticity.

I could almost see Christina’s smile as I pen this today.

“Great, you get it now.  Time is elastic, grasshopper.”

Image by Pit Van Meeffe via Flickr

Have you ever sat alone at a cafe, stared out the window and pondered this question:

“What do I wish my life to look like?”

One day, I did sit at a cafe.  I saw the cars and people passing by, and did ask this very question.  I wanted to be an entrepreneur.  I wanted to build a company filled with happy people and clients.  I wanted to do good work that has impact and makes a difference in the lives of others.

First, it started as a flicker of an idea.  Then it took form and I “fearfully” took the plunge and finally hung up my shingle.  And as I worked on the business everyday, my vision for the future and this business became more refined.  A particularly edifying moment came from reading a profoundly simple, yet powerful book called E-Myth Revisited.

There is a passage within the book that underscores the importance of having a clear vision for our lives:

Great people have a vision of their lives that they practice emulating every day.  They go to work on their lives, not just in their lives.  Their lives are spent living out the vision that they have for their future, in the present.  They compare what they have done with what they intended to do.  And where there is a disparity between the two, they don’t wait very long to make up for the difference.” ~ Michael Gerber, E-Myth Revisited.

Do you have a vision for your life?  It could just be a flicker now.  Or perhaps you are one of the great people that E-Myth Revisited alluded to, and your vision is already in full bloom?  Either way, drop a note and share with others who will benefit from your thoughts and experiences.

Here’s to your future filled with bright visions!

Image via Wikipedia

Are you an entrepreneur?  A leader?  A manager?  Or aspire to be one?  Then you must have often wondered how you can best manage and motivate those who work for you, and with you, to great results.

One of the most influential authors I have read on the subject of leadership is John Maxwell.  His teachings, stories and rules of leadership have inspired me and countless others.  In his book, Developing the Leaders Around You, Maxwell offers an easy-to-understand observation and lesson on leadership – leaders dream.  And great leaders share their dreams with others who can help turn dreams into realities.  Below is his simple four-step plan:

1. Dare to Dream: Have a vision that improve lives and change paradigms.  Have a desire to do something bigger than yourself
2. Prepare the Dream: Do your homework.  Be ready when the opportunity comes.
3. Wear the Dream: Do it!
4. Share the Dream: Make others a part of the dream, and it’ll become greater than you hope.

What is your dream?  Prepare it, do it and share it!  Wishing you much leadership success!

Image by Rennett Stowe via Flickr

One of the most uplifting, paradigm-shifting quotations I have read is an eloquent reflection on success, failure and courage, by Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States.

“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotion, spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never tasted victory or defeat.” ~Theodore Roosevelt

I first read this quotation during my early college years, and still remember my eyes widening and my mind doing an about-turn.

You see, I used to tie success to outcomes.  Did I pass or did I fail?  Was that performance good enough?  Or was it bad?  Did I win?  Or did I lose?

But Roosevelt reminds me that there is a better way to look at success and failure.  Sure, we have aspirations.  A small group of us may even dream of becoming CEO of a Fortune 500 company, or a Tour De France champion, or a doctor who finds the cure for cancer, or someone with a glorious marriage.  And an even smaller group may realize some of these dreams and “know the triumph of high achievement.”

But what really matters, according to Roosevelt, is that we stay true to our dreams, get on “the arena” and “strive valiantly” even if “we err and come short.”

Liberating!  This means we don’t have to “win” with every dream and aspiration.  What matters more, is that we find the courage and devotion to give ourselves to a worthy cause.

So success or failure, does it matter?  Maybe not as much as we think, for in one courageous act, lies our victory – victory over fear, victory over self.