Often I am asked how I discovered my path to success. Instead of being a discovery, it was a process of unfoldment. It was an accumulation of my preparation and completion. Everything I had accomplished began to unfold. I took from each experience what worked and what didn’t. From there I connected to what felt good. Over time I recognized my gifts and skills, and some of the biggest recognitions. I realized I was a teacher. It was a continual learning process, emerging from every single experience. You must always be learning. When you are living as a teacher and student, you are always growing. With success, it is subjective. Everyone has a different definition for success. I identified what success felt like by listening to and identifying my gifts. First, I recognized that I had gifts and then other people began to recognize that I had something of value to offer. It is important that you identify what success means to you, on all levels. Have you discovered your path to success? How are you being recognized and compensated? Once you discover your path to success, the key is to live with authenticity. I worked at some corporate jobs. I had to know who I was, how I thrived, how I could not be a little fish in a big pond. So, when I became more in touch with my authentic self, I was led to do the things that made me happy.  I was able to share and then receive their gratitude, which made me happy. That in itself gave me a lot of freedom from my own personal issues and emotional blocks. It set me free. By doing things that made other people happy, it gave me a lot of freedom from the emotional issues that were unfulfilled. I realized then that I had been living my life with the thought that I needed to receive approval from my family. I began to recognize: Why am I living my life to make other people happy? That is when I started to look at how it was time to start living for ‘me,’ to accomplish my goals and learn how to protect my dreams and goals from people who did not or could not support me. Are you living an authentic life? Is your life full and rich, filled with happiness? Are you always looking for approval? Are you on a path to success and find happiness elusive? What does success and happiness mean to you? First you must get clarity. When you are starting out you may not truly know where you are going, but you have to get started. With each step your path and purpose will begin to unfold with every new experience. Also, it is essential that you write in a gratitude journal, to have focus and consistent thoughts, and to celebrate the small victories. If you are elusive, your thoughts will be inconsistent or your expectations may be unrealistic, one of perfectionism. This is where you have to chunk things down into smaller things. Celebrate the small successes. If you are looking at the whole elephant and that is your only model to success, you will miss a lot along the way. It is most beneficial to work with a coach or accountability partner, someone who is dedicated, who will help you find and achieve that success. I invite you to work with me, and assist you in discovering your true self, and how together we will create a new ‘you’ full of purpose and joy.  You can contact me at: Gary@GaryLoper.com Views:]]>