Challenges grow. Change and responsibilities get bigger. To find success, we must become better at adapting like a pro to manage them.
Let me share with you the secrets of my success.
Secret #1: Cultivate Patience to Persevere.
Achieving goals takes time and patience.
I started my building company in the middle of a historic recession – the worst possible time to start a company. We wanted to succeed but knew that any significant successes during that time would be icing on the cake.
This attitude created an atmosphere of so much more freedom and so much more ability to think creatively; to come up with new and interesting ways of doing things.
We were facing extremely challenging times. Ways that worked before floundered, and we were unsure whether we would stay in business.
The lesson? We allowed ourselves the ability to think outside the box on purpose – very deliberately, knowing that it might not work. Relaxing into the idea that we were testing and trying until we found something that worked was paramount.
We couldn’t let desperation, need, urgency or fear take over. By being committed to patience to the long-term plan, it allowed for creativity and resourcefulness to start through the ups and downs.
Secret #2: Relationships mean EVERYTHING.
Relationships are golden. In good times and in bad, it is the relationships you have created that allow for opportunities.
Creating relationships takes effort, however. When you’re busy or work from fear and desperation, you can’t focus on creating relationships. In fact, you may not be giving the attention necessary to the relationships that you already have in your life.
My belief? We are people before we are business.
Secret #3: Reinvention happens. Evolve to grow.
The person I was when I started a small building company with just two people was not the same person I became when we sold the company of 50 people with over $85m in annual revenue.
There were significant times when I had to grow and reinvent myself or I was not going to get to the next level.
Being willing to grow and feel the discomfort of growth is the key to change and achieve new results.
It doesn’t feel good. But by being willing to evolve and grow, that commitment to the evolution of yourself will take you anywhere.
Secret #4: Lose the perfectionism, in leadership & in life. 
Five years into business, my anxiety was through the roof. We had built a significantly sized company and had the most financial risk we had ever had.
I didn’t sleep because my mind would run with all the things that needed to be done, everything that wasn’t being done right and all the things we needed to do to get it right. I wasn’t living as an example to my employees.
My husband pointedly told me: you don’t do anything that you say you stand for.
I knew I wasn’t being an example. I was emailing staff in the middle of the night, constantly pushing everyone so hard because of how imperfect we were – or so I thought. This was not creating a culture that I claimed or stood for. My need for perfection was now in the way of everything I truly wanted to create.
I had to lose the perfectionism.
Secret #5: Manage your mind, seize those opportunities for success!
We were transitioning from being a small home builder to being in the big leagues.
We had a meeting with a prominent builder, and I was very intimidated. “What do I know and how will I be able to answer any of their questions?”
I knew that this was my opportunity for growth. This builder wants to buy what we created. I had to be honest, logical and take control of my thoughts. This is where the work I had been doing really came in to play for me and changed my life.
The rest is history.
Learning to manage your mind through things that cause stress and anxiety is imperative for success in life. If you don’t, you limit yourself, what you can accomplish and who you can become.
Summary of the Keys to My Success
Particularly in the times we’re facing, you need to be willing – and trust – that you are committed for the long haul. Have patience. Cultivate an inner space of freedom and creativity – without fear and desperation – so you are open to new opportunities and innovative solutions.
- Cultivate patience. If you want to succeed, know that achieving goals takes time, patience – and a willingness to persevere.
- Build Relationships– Connect with people. Understand people, create partnerships and mutual respect to support each other.
- Evolve– Be willing to change and prepare for the discomfort that comes with it. We can’t grow without changing and we can’t change without getting out of our comfort zones.
- Drop the perfectionism– It is what causes you stress, anxiety, shame, pressure and guilt- not only for yourself, but for others. I know all too well. What you create is the opposite of what you intended.
- Manage your Mind– You are responsible for your own feelings and what you create in your life. Question your own limiting beliefs about yourself and decide deliberately if you want to keep them.
By practice, I have overcome these things and allowed them to work for me through challenges. Challenges always arise, and I am still evolving.
Who will you need to become to create the possibility for yourself and your career?
My Goal: the #1 Resource for the Housing & Homebuilding Industry
My goal is to become the best resource for the housing and homebuilding industry for leadership development training and coaching.
Like you, I am a Work in Progress, too.
I need to share how much I love what I am creating to support and bring value to those in the industry. In the past, I have been an incredible salesperson, but I was selling homes. Now I needed to sell ME.
Stay stuck in limiting beliefs – or rise to new perspectives? You choose.
Selling myself made me feel uncomfortable. I grew up with a belief system not to brag about yourself and selling myself felt like bragging. I’m still in the process of creating a new belief system around that.
I am not willing to continue holding on to that belief or allow it to limit my ability to create this company. Now, I am practicing new beliefs and creating others.
You can do the same. Be willing to truly see who you need to become in order to accomplish what you want. Then look at why you haven’t done it yet.
Overcome Limitations & Perfectionism to Find Success
Join us at Strive if:
- you want to work on how to understand your mind so you can manage it, which starts with recognizing limiting beliefs and how they are holding you back.
- you struggle with perfectionism. See how it works for you and how making a change will open up possibilities for you.
- you want to reach a goal; we focus on you becoming a goal finisher… not just a goal starter like many of us have been!
I want to see you inside doing the work that takes you where you want to be – all so you can create the life that you want.
Keep following us as we will be announcing dynamic guests joining us soon!