"Success doesn't come to you - you go to it." - Marva Collins
Just the other day, an email landed in my inbox from a social media broadcaster. It was a different kind of New Year's message. Instead of simply wishing me a happy 2016, encouraging me to work on my resolutions and to party the last hours of 2015 away, it was a warning.
This social media broadcaster had been badly stung by a business coach who promised her the world overnight... at a hefty price of course. Before too long, the once naïve social media broadcaster had, a whole wad of cash later, learned this simple and hard-hitting lesson.
As far as secrets to success go, there are none.
Michael Priyev, manager at web design company Toggle Web Media says: "If there is a secret to becoming successful in business, or anything really, it is to be yourself, and most importantly, to trust your own judgment. The surest way to failure is trying to be like someone or something you are not."
It's been almost one year now since I made the decision to quit my job in Communications/PR and to start my own professional writing business. To be honest with you, it feels like it's been a lot longer than a year.
I have no doubt that being a business owner has changed me. So much so that if I went back to my first workplace where I spent five years straight after graduating, people wouldn't be dealing with the same Sarah. And hey, they probably wouldn't like Sarah 2.0 very much. Why?
Expressing it in a way that is true to my roots, running a business is what us Aussies call hard yakka. Like everything, it has its pros and cons but there are moments when I can honestly tell you I've asked myself: what are you doing?
I've found running this business has forced me to be more in touch with my emotions than ever before in my life. Oh, and I've become a lot blunter and less tolerant of time wasters. Thinking back, I started out in this new direction at one of the lowest points in my life. The 'dream job' I'd left my first job for was a big fizz and as anyone experiencing a major transition would be able to relate to, a few of my closest relationships fell apart as a result.
I still remember my first day as a business owner. I sat at my laptop, staring at a blank screen and a flickering cursor. The next few months were tough and I did what most newbie business owners and entrepreneurs do: I went on the search for the magic secrets to success. Trust me, I think I've been through a whole library of self-help/success books out there and while they're all very interesting in their own way, here's what I've concluded.
It's all BS (excuse the language).
No one's path to success mirrors someone else's. There aren't any tricks, secret doors to unlock or proven formulas to follow - this isn't a magic show.
Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban once said "Wherever I see people doing something the way it's always been done, the way it's 'supposed' to be done, following the same old trends, well, that's just a big red flag to me to go look somewhere else."
While I'm certainly not advocating that listening to others with more experience or being receptive to those around you isn't helpful, learning to tune into and to trust your own intuition will never lead you astray. As will being true to yourself because at the end of the day, there's you.
Yes, just you.
While the last 12 months or so has pushed me on every level and led me to doing things well outside my comfort zone such as recording podcasts and videos, I haven't forgotten who I am. I know exactly who I am, what I'm comfortable with and by creating and following my own path in business, I believe it will lead me to the highest of heights.
And this leads me to something else - what equates to success for me is likely to be completely different to what success looks like to you.
As Priyev describes: "This is an analogy I use quite often with budding entrepreneurs to illustrate how everyone's road to success is and should be different. Imagine you're in a crowded room: it's so jam-packed with people you feel like a sardine. Everyone in the room is trying to make their way through the front door because they saw someone else walk through it. And yet you realise that if you use the back door, you'll make your way outside the room and towards the fresh air far quicker. Sometimes, it really is just better to use another door."
Now, I'm not sure about you but if faced with that exact scenario, I know which door I'd be using.
Sarah Cannata is a Communications consultant for Toggle Web Media