5 Ideas to rethink your own success

Some people assume they will realize dreams when they are no longer ravaged by time, when they finally overcome illness, gain more control, move beyond violence or reasons for discomfort, like anger or despair. Yet, wait a minute. Are you the sort of person who thinks success is limited to a tangible result or an unreachable ideal?

You may equate success with how closely you are able to stay true to a purpose. You may know people who evaluate the good, the bad, and what they term, 'the ugly,' or how many opportunities they feel they have squandered. Ultimately, you are the only judge of your own choices, your performance, and all the results you perceive. Don't forget the value of each step of your journey. Rethink success with these ideas:

1) Spontaneous revelations -when was the last time you experienced an "ah-ha" moment? You know that positive, reassuring feeling. A kind of light bulb goes off in your mind.  You finally grasp an idea that escaped you before. It's like, you're back on track. Nothing comes from nothing.  You learn even when you don't realize it.

2) Reconciliation -when was the last time you made up after a disagreement? You come to sense needless pain alongside necessary struggle. You realize its possible to impact other lives with kindness and grasp this also mirrors how you treat yourself.

3) From pride to forgiveness- when was the last time you shifted from shame to remorse? Have you learned to forgive people and yourself for grudges? You can decide to be polite and tolerant and not permit negative feelings to control you. It can be as simple as saying, "I'm sorry" or, agreeing to disagree without animosity.

4) From accusing to understanding-when was the last time you evolved from judging what used to seem evil and reckless behavior in others to see it as antithetical to what you needed to learn about you? You may sense a person's inner turmoil or shattered dreams are simply invitations for love and comfort. You're in "the same boat." All you need to do is recognize that you cope and learn together.

5) Accept you won't get everything- when was the last time you felt fine about not getting something you asked for? No matter how you pray, what you work toward or desire, its vital to realize circumstances that unfold are the best ones for you. This may not become clear until you learn what you're meant to from an experience.

Have you become too wise for your own good?

Has all the education and knowledge within reach obscured our purpose, the true sense of why we’re alive? What happened? Isn’t it time to wake up from this dream?

Humans didn’t always question whether a power greater than them could exist. They didn’t always believe they could quickly learn everything they needed to know, that they were the centre of the Universe or, that they were expected to be the best at something at the expense of others. When was the last time you excelled such that you looked past external disapproval?, past your perceived mistakes or failures?

It wasn’t always necessary to obtain evidence to prove life forms beyond Earth exist. There was a time when it was generally assumed and accepted. It wasn’t always regarded as bizarre or suspicious if you had faith in things beyond the scope of another person’s logic or imagination. Have you become too wise for your own good?

Role of Science

Science has come to be perceived as a socio- cultural authority. People working in the fields tend to be intelligent, ambitious, well-paid and rewarded with status and respect. More and more people refer to Science and technology for ‘acceptable’ explanations to mysteries and to mask inner fears. Loads of us think of Science as the dependable resource for health care services and advice, both assumed and expected to best improve health and well-being. Each view has its place.

At the same time, why is it that widespread beliefs in the validity of Science and related knowledge, have led humans to judge and criticize more? Why are people necessarily stronger or weaker, faster or slower, healthier or sicker, hopeless and terminal, even, preferably forgotten or discarded? Why do people focus on ego, on paths to quicker self-gratification, and with a lack of conscience or accountability? Why can working longer and harder also mean achieving greater emptiness?

Belief in Spirituality

There was a time when the vast majority of people understood that life in this world was a gift, an opportunity to plant whatever thoughts would enrich our souls. To be exposed to conditions which evoke feelings of intolerance, impatience, anxiety and fear, can be seen as opportunities in disguise. How will you choose to interpret your opportunities? Which lessons will you choose to retain, share and re-apply?

Belief in spirituality is like a choice we make to listen to our hearts rather than to our pride. It’s like choosing to lose your arrogance in favour of realizing who you are. This kind of learning doesn’t have to be seen as self-sacrifice. You may come to believe living without loving, without nurturing peace and hope, isn’t truly what life is all about. Recognize the value of your infinite light and inner power.

The Here & Hereafter

Some people believe in worlds beyond Earth. The Hereafter is one such place. It’s also a synonym for heaven, a place where diseases of hate, violence, jealousy, and other negative energy, simply don’t exist. Pure souls there have learned to only sense reason to experience love and compassion.  They sense without judgment.

From this view, life in the physical world offers opportunities to learn to discern right from wrong.  Passing over enables souls to sense their earthly lessons differently. Raising self-awareness becomes the ability to uncover love buried beneath broken trust, beneath other ‘unlikely’ circumstances. Souls realize to overcome struggle is to transcend their imagined shells of fear. They will help each of us help ourselves, if only we let them. We determine the path of our education.

Do More with Your Inner Power

How often have you heard you're supposed to have abilities that you just don't seem to tap into? When was the last time you had reason to believe you could do what you set your mind to do? This goes further than traditional goal-setting where you pursue what is suggested or imposed.  This concerns the invisible power of your mind.  Here are stories to offer reminders that you can do more with your inner power:

A woman sat and watched her festive fireplace intently.  She voiced her desire for a different kind of fire than the one that was burning.  It wasn't big enough or loud enough for her.  Then, she looked at the crackling logs and focused her mind.  She rubbed her hands together, thinking more.   Low and behold, two logs rolled off the top of the stack of hot coals without her touching them.  The woman laughed. How would you explain the spontaneous blaze that ensued? Was it more than projection?

In another case, a software developer decided he wasn't content with where he was in his life.  He began thinking more about emerging client needs he desired to satisfy.  He spent more time designing the means to provide these services.  When traveling on regular business trips, he felt attracted to speak with strangers who pointed him in timely directions.  Other individuals simply approached him and began offering situations and opportunities.  He got exactly what he needed to move on.  How would you explain why his business suddenly opened up internationally?

What about the young woman who began having repeated dreams about places she hadn't recalled visiting before? Images of a desirable existence began to clarify in her subconscious before she gradually connected them to her incompatible daytime lifestyle and choices.  The more she thought about what she wasn't doing and compared it with what she was, the more she realized she was going through a transition to teach her about the implications of her behavior.  How would you explain why this woman abruptly abandoned everything she knew to face her fears?

In a nutshell, when your mind concentrates on an idea, you channel energy into it and enable it to grow.  You may not understand why the universe reacts the way it does, why circumstances change as they do on the level of your basic senses, or why you notice situations, people and opportunities and events you didn't recognize before.  Energies evolve on levels invisible to your regular senses.  Energy reacts to how you think and what you do.  You can do more with your inner power.  You can harness invisble energy in your favor. Learn to heighten your own sensitivities. 

Realize mistakes don't exist

How often have you felt as though "success" is beyond your reach? You may be the sort of person who assumes you've made too many mistakes.  What if such perception is flawed?  Perhaps its time you realized mistakes don't exist.  You may choose to obscure a truth you don't wish to see.

If you decided to change you perspective, imagine how your life would change.  From the moment you choose to believe that every choice you make has benefits, that your choice to live itself is a version of success, then you will value each experience differently.  What if you decided mistakes were some crazy thing you invented to cause yourself to forget you are successful just as you are? 

Many people overlook that success is based primarily on how a person thinks.  It is grounded in deciding how happy and complete you choose to feel as you are. It isn't based on what you're taught. Success doesn't have to relate to what you can or can't buy, to people you do or don't know, to the nature of reaching particular goals or not. It is grounded on a state of being, on the energy you emit from inside. 

In a nutshell, your mission or life purpose is what you choose to make it. If, at different periods of your life, you choose to change your path or goals, that's simply another facet of your success. It takes courage to reframe yourself, to take steps you haven't taken before, to realize you are no longer the person you used to be. Nobody judges you but yourself. Only you can let go of it and rethink all you are.

Remind yourself that your idea of mistakes may just be other people's projections of what they fear they aren't prepared to do. What works for you, what makes sense to you, will not always make sense to other people.  That's okay.  You define your own success.  Be happy.  Accept yourself.    Mistakes don't exist. They are only a form of your fear. You are ready to move ahead. Success is only a thought away. Begin now.

Uncover deeper secrets behind power dressing

Power dressing is a synonym for dressing for success. No matter which milieu you choose, how you look reflects how you feel about yourself. Would changing your appearance make any difference in how you’re perceived? Would changing self-care influence your esteem? Dressing for success includes feelings you reveal and conceal.

For working women, power dressing can mean female versions of men’s suits or other workplace attire, especially if women are expected to behave like female versions of men. If any hint of sexuality is removed from sight, would you think women would get more respect? What about self-respect? Should yours change?

Men at work are also expected to fit a particular part. Dressing up or dressing down makes its own statement about authority or subordination. Society has expectations for men and women. Each person chooses to conform to standards or not, to be a follower or a trend-setter. Each choice will have consequences.

How you review your position, whether or not you feel comfortable  in your role, all give you hints about the suitability of where you are.  Are you listening to your dreams? Your work choices may not touch upon social causes. Your focus doesn't have to be the pursuit of justice to be right for you. What's important to recognize is whether your choices revolve around other people’s ideas of success or your own.

No matter what you wear, or how you contribute to society, you hide behind masks. As you gain insight into the masks other people wear, you also gain insight into your own. It is these masks of emotion that shape your ideas of success and whether or not you realize them.  Do your current path and clothes make you feel good?

Some people portray arrogant or assertive personas, but they’re really terrified of powerlessness. Other people hide behind sexism or discrimination to conceal their unsatisfied desires, impotence or unresolved anger.  Appearances can indeed be deceiving. Learn to discern what is said by others through their subtle nuances. Reinterpret your choices. Are you a walking contradiction of success?

Fear is always linked to unhealed wounds. Violence, oppression and any other treatment that holds you back from success tends to stem from pain. This could reflect your own as much as anyone who seems outside yourself. Success can be understood as discerning the inter-connectedness among compassion, patience and power. We can only ever choose to heal ourselves.