How are you defining success for yourself and preparing for new opportunities?

I’m sure most of us would agree that a little too much pressure is put on us to have the perfect, linear progression towards a successful future, so when plans change (and they often do!) it can bring disappointment. 

But how do we create a vision of the future that leaves enough grace and space for things to change without disappointment? 

How do we exercise a mentality of always being ready so that no matter what opportunity comes our way, we can hop on it?

Tune in to the full episode here!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts

---

I don’t know about you, but those are two goals of mine for sure. I want to be prepared for whatever opportunities present themselves to me so that I don’t have to let them pass me by. And I also want to leave space for the unpredictable (good and bad!) when I daydream about the future and when I reflect on how far I’ve come. 

So, as societal pressure threatens us with unrealistic ideals about perfect plans and extreme success, how can we protect ourselves from that? 

My answer: With your very own, unique, solid understanding of what success really means. 

In an interview I watched with Missy Franklin Johnson, she boldly encourages us that your definition of success needs to be yours.

Yours. Not your parents, not your friends, not anyone else’s except for yours. 

RELATED: Four Mindset Spectrums & Where We Should Land

Another great quote that inspired me on this topic is by Jim Rohn. He was an entrepreneur and motivational speaker who said, “If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.” 

So here is a quick story of my first, big “lightbulb moment” that taught me an important lesson about what success looks like: 

When I was little, I wanted to go to the olympics. 

I know that a lot of kids probably dream about this at one point, but I really took it to a serious extreme where I thought about it, I trained with it in mind, I planned, I dreamt, and so success very quickly became Olympics. 

That didn’t happen and I was disappointed, but soon after, I found one of my (now) favorite quotes by Mother Theresa: “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”

I thought to myself, “well, if I can’t do this great big thing, as long as I change my idea of what brings me fulfillment, I can do small things with great love and be equally satisfied!”

We might not all be the the star of the show, but if we can just define success a little differently, then doing small things with great love can become successful.

Or, if we define success as trying our absolute best, then if we try our best and fall short of the goal a little bit, we are still successful! 

More or less, we are setting yourselves up for failure if the boxes we need to check to be successful demand absolute perfection. 

And going even further than that, we need to be okay with changing that definition of what success looks like as we turn the pages into different chapters and seasons of our lives.

And lastly, how to prepare for any opportunities that life might throw our way: I talk about this much more in the episode, but here is a little Sparknotes version. 

Do what you can now so that any lack of opportunity down the road isn’t your fault! If you end up in a situation where doors aren’t opening and you feel stuck in whatever the not-so-great circumstance is, it won’t be because of a lack of effort on your part. 

With this “always ready for anything” attitude, I’m always learning, always having an open mind, and always trying my best to be positive and open to my life plans changing or taking unexpected turns. With this in mind, I feel so much more well prepared to embrace the pressure that our fast-paced world puts on us! When plans change, I feel confident knowing I have something else in my back pocket I can turn to whether it is an interest to pour into or a skill to put to good use. 

In a nutshell, always try your best. Doing that 24/7 will prepare you to take any number of different paths and be plenty qualified for them! 

And p.s. I think you’re doing great, so keep up the good work on your way towards whatever your future holds! <3

---