“Success is no Accident.” -Pelé

It has been a few months since my last blog, and I am happy to say I’ve been extremely busy working on me! This time of year has become very reminiscent and important in reflecting on life and setting new goals as I honor my beloved late mom. Last year, I chose to do something outside of my comfort zone to honor her life, and I found myself speaking publicly at an open mic. For someone who thrives outside of her comfort zone, it was scary and exhilarating to feel my heart pound in my chest and hear my voice crack on a microphone. I think my mom would be very proud of me, and in fact, I’m proud of me too!

In the year since that open mic I have continued to push myself and make important changes. It has been a challenging road both shedding things and people who no longer serve me and finding new things and people who encourage my journey. I didn’t (and still don’t) know exactly where I’m going, but I am going full force, full heart, and full steam ahead! In fact, I’m going somewhere so determined I put it in writing.

I love the quote, “A dream written down with a date becomes a goal. A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan. A plan backed by action makes your dreams come true.” So, I wrote down three goals for myself with the help and direction of Teledipity.com. (I’ll elaborate on Teledipity in a future post.) 1. I defined a specific step forward in my career to complete in the next 12 months. 2. I determined a way to break my chains of dependency. 3. I set the loftiest career goal I could dream up and determined the first step to get me there.

I wrote these down in January, and when I focused my energy, I soon found myself working harder than ever in the happiest way. One thing for sure is that great work comes from great effort. In January, I started a new day job. In February, I got promoted. In March, I reached a life long goal of performing for Cirque Du Soleil. As some doors closed, I banged through the next ones, and I am truly seeing the fruits of my labor. In fact, one career overlapped with another, as I worked backstage at Cirque shown in my picture!

My journey has brought me a long way this past calendar year. I consciously feel happier than I have in years. It’s different now than it was years ago though. I have always been a happy person. I used to wake up happy every day and lived an eternal optimist life. Healing and grieving after my mom passed away has taught me to earn that happiness. It has taught me to make that happiness for myself. I remain an eternal optimist though. 🙂

Renowned English novelist Charlotte Bronte said, “Happiness quite unshared can scarcely be called happiness.” With that said, I share this story of growth, hard work, and the beginning of success in an effort to spread happiness. I hope in reading my blog and by being a part of my journey, I have somehow inspired motivation, invoked thought, or maybe even comforted you knowing your struggles are not alone. Perhaps I’ve merely entertained you with my stories or helped you escape your reality with mine. Regardless of how you accept my words, thank you for being open to them.

I’ll leave you with the words of Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pelé (Brazilian football player, Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee, and one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century). “Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.”