What Actually Catapulted Me To Success

Okay, let’s fess up here.  You don’t actually catapult into success.  Nor is there such thing as an overnight success. Success in ANYTHING comes from a series of small choices that you have made consistently overtime.  One day you look up and think “holy crap! Look how far I’ve come!”  And you think "WOW I just catapulted to success."  But we know the truth, it was blood, sweat and tears that got you to where you are.

That being said, it is important that you continue to make those small choices in the direction you want to go. So, how do you do that? In my experience, it has been what I will put under the umbrella of “personal development.” I have continually read books, listen to podcasts or followed experts on Instagram in order to continually fill my brain with the things it needs to know in order to grow. I was first introduced to this idea of personal development when I was in my master’s program between the years of 2013-2015. I remember that I had to take this course on leadership and I was trying to find a way out of it. Not because of the course content necessarily but it was my first online class and I was resisting the online classes at the time (this is laughable now, but hey, it’s human nature to resist change). Anyway, we had to read this book which dove deep into ME. It was working on me and my growth and where I am now and where I want to be and I fell in love. HARD.

A couple of years after my master’s degree I ended up in a community of women who were big into daily personal development. Mainly in the form of reading a little from a book everyday. They had lists of books. It was incredible! So I started. And this is where I leveled up. I was no longer content with just working a job that didn’t have any real upward trajectory. I was no longer content working a job where I wasn’t learning. I dove deep into my values and who I am as a human and a leader. I got vulnerable with people I was leading and they responded well. So I have never stopped.

I know what you are thinking. “I don’t have time to read everyday.” This may be an unpopular opinion, but yes, you do. Let’s talk about the options. You can get a physical book and read for 10 minutes when you wake up or before bed. I can guarantee you have 10 minutes because I know how much time you spend on social media. If that doesn’t work, there are audible books you can listen to while you are driving anywhere, while you are exercising or while you are doing chores around the house. If you don’t have money for books of any form, you can always visit your local library. Podcasts are also an excellent, free way to get more tips and tricks on any topic. I love books because they dive deep into concepts but I have gained so much knowledge listening to podcasts as well.

The transformation I experienced came in small doses. First, I ditched the fear of speaking up. I had hard conversations with my supervisors to say “Hey, I need more.” Finally, at the end of 2017 I left a job that I had grown to love in so many ways. The people I was responsible to care for, the people I worked with. They had spent so much time developing me and I am so grateful for that, but there was no more growth happening and I KNEW in order to grow I had to move on as painful as it was. I think I cried for a week straight. UGH. I loved those people so much. Anyway, here is the worst part. The job that I left that one for, was HORRID. HORRID. They were corrupt. There were liars. The gossip was unbelievable. I have never had a boss that I couldn’t speak to confidentially until this one. I never had a boss just full on undermine me by talking shit about me to people that reported to me. It was bad. And I knew it in week 2. I thought “this was a big mistake.” No such thing my friends. Remember, where you are right now is EXACTLY where you are meant to be. While it was a painful and anxiety ridden 8 months of my career, I learned so much. I kept reading (in this case listening since I had a 35 minute commute one way). I knew who I was as a leader and I knew that being surrounded by the negative energy, people who didn’t operate with integrity was not me and it was NOT how I ever wanted to lead. And let me take it a step further. As a person who has spent my career helping people with disabilities to live independent and fulfilling lives, this agency was riddled with abuse and neglect situations and investigations. So much so that sometimes investigators had to have two investigations at one time because they didn’t have enough to cover all the claims. If you don’t think that this was a direct display of poor leadership it absolutely was. It starts with the top. And how you act directly effects everyone around you - whether that is family or co-workers - it trickles all the way down to the direct consumers of our service or product - in EVERY industry. I digress. I think it’s an important story though. Because of the work I had been doing on myself, I knew when I was in a situation that I could not tolerate. I knew that it didn’t align with my values. I am not sure that I would have been as strong as I was navigating that situation had I not done the personal development work in advance of being in that situation. And that is why I say you are exactly where you are meant to be. Had I not experienced that horrible work environment, I would not have been as strong of a leader as I was in my next job. I believe as a leader and as a human that we must continue to grow and develop. This is what will help us to where we want to be, closer to the vision of our life. This is what helps us to show up as the best version of ourselves for the people in our lives. And there will always be work to be done. There are always areas of our lives we want to know more about. Another great example of how this has shown up for me is with nutrition. When I started out I was just doing the best I could with the tools I had. Nutrition is highly complex and it is highly commercialized. This means you are getting information from big food that they WANT you to have whether it is true or not. Anyway, I have read and listened to countless books and podcasts on nutrition. Where I started many years ago with knowledge about nutrition is not where I am today. This is simply because I continued to research and read and listen and never give up. I have used this same tactic when I wanted to know more about personal finances and running a marathon. Books, books, books baby!! Here is one really important take a way though, that I don’t want to be misunderstood - you can read all you want, but if you don’t also gain experience by taking action you don’t get the full growth. Education and experience go hand in hand and it will make you a powerhouse that others in your age range can’t keep up with. Your success will be a reflection of your overall hustle and dedication to what you are chasing, not just sitting on the couch reading books.   My advice to you: if there is something in your life you want to be better at, go find a book about it (and actually read or listen to it). Don’t forget your local library if you can’t afford to buy a book. When you finish that book, find another one. And just keep going until you feel well versed on the subject. You should start to feel more confident in that area. Things to remember: There are many different opinions on many different topics. You may even find conflicting opinions in the different books you read. That is not the point. The point is for YOU to gain as much knowledge as you can on the subject at hand. From there, you get to make your own opinion. You get to implement that things that mean the most to you. You take your new knowledge and do whatever you want with it!! A quick example of this: I have taken 3 in depth courses on 3 different nutrition programs. I think they are all great and effective. But they all have different tactics. I tried all 3 but ultimately went with the one that fit my lifestyle the best. I would still recommend any of them to anyone.

Personal development work is vital to continued growth in your life, in your relationships, in your work. But let’s be real - sometimes it’s hard. Sometimes it’s easier to just stay in the status quo. But there is no greater personal satisfaction than growing into the person you are meant to be. There is no greater joy than for me to look back on how far I have come in the various aspects of my life. I don’t even recognize 21 year old me anymore. I am not that person. And with that has come tremendous challenges in my marriage, in my friendships and in my work. That said, I wouldn’t change it for the world. Where you are right now, is exactly where you are meant to be. Where you are traveling to next, is exactly where you are meant to go. <3