Min vän, Leslie, är en näringslivsgigant och grundare och VD över företaget MyEsteeme. Jag ville gärna ha ett inlägg om bra tips att tänka på för att bli framgångsrik. Men samtidigt kändes det inte allt för trovärdigt att jag skulle skriva den. Jag är duktig på det jag gör men är väldigt mycket i startgroparna och har en lång väg framför mig. Jag tänkte direkt på Leslie och frågade om hon kunde tänka sig att skriva ett gästinlägg till mig och er. Till min stora glädje sa hon ja. Hon har skrivit en 7-point checklist for success. Eftersom hon är en eldig latina från Mexico kommer inlägget på engelska. En frisk fläkt i min annars svensktalande (svenskskrivna!?) blogg. Tack Leslie, det är en ära att ha med dig i bloggen. Och till er läsare återstår bara att säga enjoy!
How to be Successful: 7 Tips from a CEO (that anyone can follow!)
Society is obsessed with success. We want to know who makes the most money, who won the gold medal and who holds the record for eating the most hot dogs in three minutes (it’s Takeru Kobayash from Japan).
Facebook and Instagram are also a part of the problem with their rose-tinted version of reality where everyone is happy, tan and on vacation. We all know this game, and most of us play along.
But what is success, really?
It’s not just about getting a lot of likes on your picture, or having a big house and a lot of money. It’s the small things that put together make you feel like your life is valuable. Success can be a fleeting feeling, but it doesn’t have to be.
The truth is that focusing on the completion of one objective, one goal is never enough. Ask anyone with a tattoo. One is never enough. Even before your skin has healed, you’re dreaming about the next one.
The feeling of being successful, however, can be more lasting. Like practicing mindfulness, learning how to savor success is an art.
So, without further a-do, I’d like to share with you my seven tips to build and savor success:
1. Mark your small accomplishments.
Celebrate them, and use them as motivation to push forward towards your big goals. One of the most noticeable features in my company’s office is our Milestone wall where we write down (and illustrate!) all of our accomplishments, big and small. When we’re having a bad day, it’s always uplifting to remind ourselves how far we’ve come.
2. Surround yourself with positive people.
Or, to say this in another way, don’t waste your time with people who bring you down. We all have enough self-doubt and dark shadows in our minds. Keep your inner circle filled with people who believe in you and push you to be the best version of yourself.
3. Be resilient.
Spoiler alert. Don’t believe all the overnight success stories you hear. There’s always a lot of stress, nasty arguments, grey hair and failure behind every success story. But the key is how you turn all of these into advantages.
4. Build your network. Let people be your super power.
Surround yourself with inspiring, highly-driven people to create your own culture of success. Also, don’t be shy. Ask to meet people that inspire you the most for a 20 minute fika (but be sure to prepare your topic/questions in advance). Bouncing ideas off people makes you more creative, motivated and is usually mutually beneficial for the other person.
5. Respect people’s time.
Woody Allen once said that 99 percent of life is showing up. But to be successful, you should also be on time, prepared and most of all, present. And that means putting away your phone.
6. Think big!
Life is all about compromises but there is never a reason not to start at the top and plan for the best. Aim for the stars even if you only reach the street lights.
7. Finally, do good.
You can’t change the world, but you can change the world around you. Find something to stand for and it’ll change you from the inside out. For me, it’s to do all that I can to make society more inclusive, starting with young children. Through promoting the benefits of diversity, I hope to help foster a sense of belonging so that every child is able to believe in themselves and reach their full potential in life.
Love,
Leslie
Leslie Alfredsson is an entrepreneur, a Mexican-Malmöite, a self-made powerhouse in the world of digital marketing, and CEO of her own successful startup, My Esteeme.
