The Right Kind Of Success

Stephen Covey talked about the disappointment of finally getting to the top of the ladder of success, only to find it was leaning against the wrong wall.

I had been standing on that ladder for a couple of years trying to figure out how to move it on to a better wall without falling until I joined Fiona’s recent Success Group.

It all seems so obvious now; just step off the ladder, and put it against the right wall.

Support
Simple but scary. I needed to work through the 7 Rules of Success with the support of Fiona and the group to really believe that this was a risk not just worth taking but one I had to embrace if I wanted to be true to my real purpose and the vision for my life. Just as Covey says

“If the ladder is not leaning against the right wall, every step we take just gets us to the wrong place faster.”

I have worked hard for years to build up my qualifications and experience to forge a career in the NHS.

I left school without taking any exams, and always felt limited by my lack of qualifications. So after having four children in as many years, I decided it was time to put that limiting belief to rest.

I took GCSE and A levels and was totally shocked to find I was accepted at Sheffield University to take a degree in Psychology. Post-graduate studies, Coaching qualifications and NLP practitioner qualifications never convinced me I was clever enough.

The Wrong Wall
Getting one promotion after another until I was working on a major national NHS programme at the top of my field still didn’t fill the lack I felt. I was just getting further up the wrong wall.

The Success Group helped me to really challenge those self-limiting beliefs and identify my purpose, passion and destiny. In the first week, Fiona spent about ten minutes with me and my passion was bubbling.

Every session I went to after that I was working on that passion but always holding back knowing that the one risk I needed to take was impossible; to give up my well-paid job and follow my heart inspiring people like me to reach further than the limitations they have set themselves.

Perseverance
On week six we started on the rule of perseverance and everything changed. Mike Blissett, Fiona’s assistant, and my fabulous group members really challenged my beliefs.

They helped me to recognise my uniqueness and the value of vulnerability in someone working with others to grow. Fiona had started the session with the quotation from explorer W H Murray that I had read a million times but it had never before had the potency it had on that day:

“Until one is committed there is always hesitancy, the chance to draw back always ineffectiveness. The moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too.”

I took on all the actions I had committed to at that session and within a week I had resigned from my job to start out full-time as a coach and workshop facilitator.

Providence has certainly moved in. I have gathered lots of support and opportunities and the scary feelings have turned into excitement.

I can honestly say I feel truly alive for the first time in years.

I know I have taken a major risk but I also know I could never have authentically coached anyone to live the life they dream unless I was doing that myself.

“Boldness has genius, power and magic in it”
Whatever you are dreaming of I would urge you to take up Fiona’s challenge of accepting the risk that is right in front of you.

We all get to decide what our own interpretation of a success ladder looks like. Once I took the risk of climbing down from the wrong one, I can now see all the other walls that is possible for me to climb.