Meant To Be

"Who knows where this road is supposed to lead, we got nothing but time."

- Florida Georgia Line

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I have the honor of speaking to a Business Entrepreneurial high school class tomorrow morning - and what is so fabulous about this, is that the class even exists.  I was raised with the belief that you go to school and get a job.   If you're lucky, you work hard and build a pension until you retire and then you can enjoy your well earned money.  The most equivalent class I found most practical in high school was Economics, learning how to get the biggest tax refund based on your creativity of applying credits.

For all the flaws in our educational system, I love that we have this one little part right.   We are finally teaching students the possibility of using their gifts, skills and talents to do absolutely anything they want, including paving their own way, and starting their own business.    

Last year, when I went in to speak to the school, I was an ambitious, newly registered business owner, who was certain I had it all figured out.   The perfect lifestyle, never-again-to-work-for-anyone-else, sole proprietor, entrepreneur.  I was walking the waterfront in the mornings, journaling and living life all zen'd out, waiting for my miraculous success to follow.

I held visions of multiple revenue streams, a cool new business logo, insurance papers and a whole oasis of ideas as to why I was never going back to work.  I wrote two blog posts a month, submitted my writing online, taught workshops on leadership and wellness, practiced Reflexology, and investigated being a life coach.  

For a multitude of reasons, I put this dream on the back burner and went back to work.  

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When my friend and former High School teacher reached out to me to come and speak this year, my first thought was that she needed to find someone else.   I was a fraud.   What I had so confidently spoken about last year hadn't worked.  Now I'm re-employed corporately - so how on earth can I stand up and tell all these students to chase their entrepreneurial dream when I gave up my own?

But in all honesty, I haven't actually given up and perhaps this part of the story could be inspiring to share.

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Our visions are not manifested into reality in 24 hours.   

What's important is that we have one and that we are taking measures every single day towards executing that vision.   

I practice Reflexology on the weekends when I can.   It's an appointment here or there, but it's an opportunity to earn an additional revenue stream, make an impact on the health of others, and create new connections.

I taught leadership workshops for Seneca College twice a year for two years.   It is, without a doubt, one of my absolute favourite things to do, and is a different vertical.

I have submitted my writing to countless contests, entries and publications and I'm hopeful that one day, something will crack and it will be accepted.  I'm also looking to take a weekend writing course or workshop in the Fall or Winter next year to enhance my skills.

There is a fantastic video we have used in our Service Training recently that speaks to success, and one of the greatest lines states that "People practice in private for years what they are rewarded for in public".   

We, so often, tend to see the success of an individual without the struggle and determination that were the foundational blocks to get there.

I am not a fraud and I have not given up hope on my dreams.   

They are running parallel to me currently, while I enjoy all the newfound experiences of the opportunity and team I'm blessed with corporately.

We don't get to dictate the timing and rewards of our efforts.   We may not know where the road is going and there is some real surrender to trusting we are exactly where we are supposed to be.

***

Know your gifts and stay true to who you are.

I believe success occurs when we are aligned with our gifts and talents and truly love what we do.  Very rarely do we hear of people who hate their work and call themselves successful.   Success comes when we are totally locked in a zone, perfectly in the flow of what is natural and easy for us.   I feel my best putting words to a page or standing in front of a room.   I have friends who are unbelievably talented at farm to table cooking, cupcake creations, or planting and gardening.   I wish I could scoop them all up and tell them to go for it and wake up everyday doing exactly what they love to do.   

Success follows our intentions and desires.   

We are intuitively led towards what makes us feel our best, both professionally and personally.

I recently started going to a new hair salon.  My friend and stylist, who I met at my yoga studio, is a fun, light hearted, driven, talented lady whose story I adore.   Her salon is very italian-chic looking.   White, black and gold accents with the fur rug on the floor and all very classy.   On the wall, there is a massive blown up photo of a wasted drunk guy on a subway in Berlin.  It is completely out of place but totally in its place if you have ever met Tina.   When I asked about the photo, she said "it is a reminder of the best day of my life".  She said she wanted to come into work every single day and it be fun and this photo is a reminder to her of that.  She said "I'm not for everyone and that's ok.   For years I worked as a service slave where I didn't like many of the clients I had to work with.   Now I get to choose."

I smiled as she told me this story because we are so easily challenged that we "have" to put up with things that do not make us happy.  

We don't have to put up with anything that we do not want to.

If you were absolutely certain of success in something that you want so badly to do, what would prevent you from doing it?

Fear of it not working out?

Usually.

Tina is amazing because she is completely in her lane.   She loves what she does, she knows she isn't for everyone and she is in a happy bubble that success is inevitable to continue to grow as she only feeds what is making her happy.

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People buy into you, not what you're selling.

If there are two people with the same qualifications and the same product, who do you buy from?  

We buy from who we like.

At the end of the day, business is all about relationships.  

As is Leadership.

If I want to raise the standards of service in a restaurant, as I am so often challenged with in my new role - I am far more likely to succeed in change if I have a respect and repor with the group I'm working with.  If connections are made before compliance, then compliance is far easier to achieve because we are working together.  

Likewise, I might get lucky with a first sale of a product or service.   But repeat business depends on providing a standard in products and service, along with loyalty - and loyalty is so much stronger with tightly formed relationships. 

***

I can't confidently tell this class tomorrow I have it all figured out anymore.  

I will tell them that I am constantly evolving as a leader and as an entrepreneur, and that what I tell them today may or may not be the same in twelve months time.  

I will also tell them I don't believe success is linear and that our paths could change, without warning, at the drop of a dime.   What might sound like a really great idea for a business plan today could require an overhaul in six months or might fail.  

Only in our biggest failures do we uncover the next steps.

I watched a video yesterday with Ryan Levesque, who authored the books "Choose" and "Ask" about starting your own business.   What I remember most about his talk is that he said "I am so grateful for the failure of my first business.   It gave me the foundation to learn all the principles of operating so that when I was successful in the next one, I'd know exactly what to do."

It is the perseverance of the goal, the independence and determination of following dreams with moments in perfect alignment that make business entrepreneurship appealing to me.  

And it is one that I will continue to reflect on, evaluate and strive for - and potentially, one day, (fingers crossed) actually make happen.