Guest Blog: True Success Starts with You by Kierra Jones

Time for our weekly turnover to a new successful woman! Last week Fatima Bey had you asking yourself some questions including if you were a real success. Truly thought provoking and a test of the mind.   If you want to share your story email me at JoDeeKenney@gmail.com for more information.

This week get ready to Shine! Kierra Jones is a Visibility Empowerment Coach and Shine Strategist. Today Kierra talks about how the moment she questioned every success she had in her life and how it led her to find a new, more rewarding definition of the word.

Success is one of those topics people have debated about for centuries! It’s one of those things some feel cannot be tangibly measured and for others, is defined only by what the eye can see. It’s kind of like an iceberg. People only see the pretty peak of the iceberg on top of the water and not the jagged edges down below that represent the journey. 

So, if you’re looking for one answer on what success should mean for you, you’re not going to find it on Google, in a book, or anywhere else. Success must be defined by you! 

I spent a lifetime aiming to be successful. Being raised by a single mother in Jersey, that’s all I dreamed out. So I went to college, became the first to graduate in my family, and went on to work with a Fortune 500 company for 6 years. I thought I had made it! 

Then one day, I questioned every success I had ever achieved! All because I never took the time to ask myself one important question- what does success mean to me?

I spent my life aiming for society’s standards of success, but in that moment, I knew I needed to re-empower myself to re-define success and happiness on my own terms!

And for me, that meant entrepreneurship! Over the past 2 years, I’ve been able to build 2 business and leave my 9 to 5 corporate job! And in this article, I will be discussing three critical areas of success that I have learned along the way simply to inspire you as you answer that question for yourself! 

1. Mindset. There is power in the mind! Everything you will ever do and not do starts with the inner conversation you have with and about yourself and your abilities. Mindset which is simply your thoughts become your actions and your actions turn into results which make up your success. Therefore, mindset has everything to do with success. Yet, in all my successes, I never valued this more until my second year as an entrepreneur.  It was then that I realized mindset is an everyday thing. You can’t work on it today then skip a few weeks, then come back to it. You have to continuously build your mindset. To achieve a greater version of yourself, you must free yourself from the fears and negative self talk that is holding you back.  You must have a constant routine for maintaining your mindset. It's something you never stop working on. 

1. Clarity. Without clarity, how do you know what to focus on? How do you know which direction you’re taking? Clarity is an important quality for success. Decide what YOU want, and then pursue it with passion and determination. Clarity is something that must come from within and it’s definitely not a matter of luck. It has to be a conscious decision to seek clarity that you create for yourself.  For many today, especially the millennial population, we live in a world of unprecedented change that forces us to decide right now! Then this uncertainty pushes us to make decisions we later question. However I urge you, to see the beautiful in the journey and YOUR path, not just the end result. Start with being clear about your goals, visions, and missions. And this isn’t the time to dream small!

1. Action. This is where you have the MOST control! You get to determine what actions you do, or do not take. I once heard “actions determines the outcome which dictates your income”. So, if you ever find yourself at a place you don’t want to be, especially in your business or career, take a look at the actions you are and aren’t taking. You have control. 

Having the mindset to know anything is possible for you will allow you to dream so you can then have a clearer picture of where you want to be and create a plan of inspired action to get there, enjoying & learning from the journey along the way of course. 

So, how do you define success? What action will you take to get there with your newfound clarity and empowered mindset?