As an executive coach, I have the privilege of working with successful individuals and companies. Over the years I’ve noticed how my clients use their success to inspire themselves to even greater heights. That’s in contrast to what many people do, and that is to respond to their success with a sense of “satisfaction”—meaning complacency. They start playing it safe and they’re content with maintaining their current level of success.
If you want to inspire yourself to deeper levels of success, fulfillment, and happiness, here are two suggestions:
Own your success:
No matter where you are in life or in your career, you have things to be proud of that you can use to inspire yourself. However, it’s common for many people to either barely acknowledge or to minimize their progress and successes. For instance, some people say, “I was just doing my job” instead of owning their success. Where’s the inspiration in that?
You might think you should be “humble,” but what does that mean? If you want others to recognize your strengths and achievements, you have to do that for yourself first. You have to be the CIO (Chief Inspiration Officer) of your life and make it your job to congratulate yourself, not sell yourself short or project a false modesty.
Be real about your success:
While some people minimize their success, some do the opposite and exaggerate their success. They have an inflated sense of their contributions at work and they think their performance, communication, and relationships are better than they actually are. We have to have the self-esteem and sense of self-worth to see things as they are, not as we wish them to be.
Over-confidence can easily blind us to the evidence in front of us that’s there to tell us to make some adjustments in our thinking and behavior. Accept yourself unconditionally so you can not only own your success but so you can also see how you can learn, grow and change.
(This was first published in www.womenworking.com where I am the guest coach again for the month of June.)
Categorized in: Articles, Career Success, Life, Prosperity, Self-Esteem/Self-Worth
| << previous | next >> |