Ultimately there can be no success or happiness if the things we believe in are different than the things we do. Freya Madeline Stark
People who know me see me as being very busy. I am. Most of this is my own fault as I am unable to do anything halfway, and once I commit to something I don't back out. (I am not alone in this, I am instead surrounded by like minded friends and colleagues) Would I like to be less busy? Really what I want is longer days and more time!
To me success is in the people that we get to share our lives with. My family that is the fabric woven together that surrounds me, strong and warm, resilient and forgiving. The many women in this picture above have all impacted me in many ways, and they all remain five years after this was taken people I look forward to spending time with, and that I know I could rely on for anything, even if we don't see each other enough.
Professional success can be rated in many ways, by awards won, by events produced, by how well known you are. For me, professional success is building strong teams that enjoy collaborating to produce incredible and always different events for a variety of clients, again and again. The teams evolve and change to suit the needs of the event, but I have stood as the doors open to countless events produced by our team and heard the gasps as people arrive and experience the many aspects of an event, or heard the buzz after a great presentation that inspires new thinking, two reasons we do what we do.
As I mature in the event planning profession I enjoy seeing the impact of the industry and sharing ideas with people who all are in this to make a positive difference. Again, success.
What does success mean to you?
So continues my thoughts as inspired by Oprah's comment that "I began to see that not only can you not duplicate success, you're not supposed to. Every new endeavor is created out of the quality of the energy you bring to it and is meant to be its own thing."
At work success has different measurements, our own, our peers, our supplier partners in the success and the event's stakeholders. What continues to keep us energized and our events interesting is there is freedom in the approach. With the freedom to generate ideas and apply them to projects, that is when energy is created - an energy that brings the programs to life and generates success. It is not about what has been done, it is about what we can do next, using the experience gained from the past to make what we are doing now even better. I can hardly wait to see what 2011 brings!
So said Oprah in her closing article in the January 2011 issue. "I began to see that not only can you not duplicate success, you're not supposed to. Every new endeavor is created out of the quality of the energy you bring to it and is meant to be its own thing." While talking about OWN, she articulated perfectly (and in her inimitable style) how I try to approach each project.
I believe each of us recognizes when we are successful, as measured by our individual benchmarks. As 2011 approaches, this coming year I will refocus and put both more energy and time into my family. At 10 and almost 12 our children are successful in their own right and we want to continue to provide the foundation that allows them to succeed, to fail and learn, and to be their individual best. Plus, my family is fun to hang out with, and we have many friends we like to spend time with, and for me, a measure of success is the amazing people we get to have fun and grow with - and this is energy well spent.
