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Success is defined differently by industry, organization to organization, and by different people. One thing that’s clear? Success is no longer singularly defined by the bottom line.
Our work with countless real estate professionals makes it evident that sustainable success must include joy, overall wellness and purpose with increased financial growth.
In fact, this mindful and holistic model of success requires a prioritization of joy, a focus on overall wellness, and a clear sense of purpose to increase profits and prosperity consistently. Are you wondering what will give you an edge and increase your level of success in this market (and beyond)?
Considering this definition of success, to increase your current level of success in a market affected by a general sense of frustration, negative rapport talk outside the office, insecure and increasingly needy clients, not to mention low inventory and higher interests, it’s crucial to cultivate an edge beyond cleaning up your CRM and using the usual tools.
Mindful success that doesn’t sacrifice our wellness and joy or profit for the sake of profits alone requires us to take ownership and responsibility for our business, our lives and our future. Taking ownership of our success makes us less likely to fall into negative spirals.
This edge comes into play when many are looking for something or someone to blame, whether that’s their clients, interest rates, the overall economy, media chatter and the list goes on.
When we’re engaged in mindful success, we center ourselves and focus on the actions we can take.
This growth edge will help you remain consistent, willing to try new things, and adaptable while keeping an unwavering eye on your personal and professional goals.
Let’s lean in. Taking ownership of your success requires several key elements. While these steps are not mutually exclusive, we recommend you begin in the following order and return to them until you naturally default to using them together.
Cultivate self-awareness
One of the first aspects of taking ownership of your success is developing self-awareness. What exactly does self-awareness mean? According to researchers Shelley Duval and Robert Wicklund, who studied the Self Awareness Theory:
“Self-awareness is the ability to focus on yourself and how your actions, thoughts, or emotions do or don’t align with your internal standards. If you’re highly self-aware, you can objectively evaluate yourself, manage your emotions, align your behavior with your values, and understand correctly how others perceive you.”
Becoming more and more objective increases the likelihood of identifying negative or unproductive patterns and tendencies that have conveniently remained hidden in your “blindspot” or that you’ve tolerated as “unimportant.” Simultaneously, becoming more objective decreases the likelihood of self-deprecation and self-blame that stalls forward momentum.
When you develop an honest relationship with yourself through self-awareness, you create the opportunity to identify, clarify and align with what it is you want to truly achieve. When we take the time to tune up our awareness and create an honest relationship with ourselves, we achieve the first step in taking ownership and responsibility for our own success.
Create clear and meaningful goals
Defining specific and meaningful goals that reflect your aspirations will allow you to claim a new level of success. Jot down three immediate goals and three long-term goals.
A key component of this step is knowing why these goals are important. What’s the driver behind these goals? Hint: Increased profits and prosperity aren’t enough unless you know why this is important. This is how your goals become purposeful and allow you to sustain momentum when things become challenging.
Once you’ve gotten honest with yourself, your goals, and the motivation behind these goals, it’s time to establish both short-term and long-term objectives and break them down into actionable steps. Then you show up with a sense of clarity rather than chaos.
Set up accountability structures
From yourself: Ultimately, you are the one who is in control of your success personally and professionally. Take responsibility by holding yourself accountable for your actions, choices and outcomes. Your decisions have consequences, and only you can take responsibility for yourself.
Ask yourself the following:
- What am I choosing right now?
- Is this aligned with my goals?
- Is this a distraction?
- Is this an excuse?
- Is this one step on the path to goal fulfillment?
From accountability buddies or a like-minded community: You don’t need to go it alone. In fact, we find that it’s imperative that we connect and support one another.
Be mindful of those who genuinely support your success. Forge new connections with others who will pair up with you and become your accountability buddy. Immerse yourself in supportive communities with others who encourage one another, celebrate goal setting, create accountability, and take action.
From a mentor or coach: Seek support from mentors and coaches who can hold you accountable, challenge you to grow and provide expert guidance along your journey.
Reflect and take action
After considering the points in this article, set some time aside and reflect on the following questions. This is the most important part of this article because this is where you have an opportunity to raise your awareness, get honest with yourself about your past actions and decisions and plan for new actions.
How to approach these reflection questions: First and foremost, commit to consider these questions without judgment. Second, use these questions to challenge yourself to consider how to assume a greater sense of ownership and responsibility to drive your future success.
With kindness and honesty, ask yourself the following:
- What decisions and actions have I made in the past that have directly contributed to my current level of success?
- Where have I made excuses, allowed distractions to take over my focus, and ignored (or procrastinated on) opportunities?
- Am I willing to accept my current level of success as a springboard for a more satisfying, well-rounded and sustainable experience of personal and professional success?
- How can I take greater ownership and responsibility for my success moving forward?
- What do I need to continue doing? What do I need to do better or more efficiently? What do I need to stop doing?
Then finish the following statement:
- Today I will begin by taking the following actions:
Taking ownership and responsibility is the most powerful business edge you can develop right now. The results of taking ownership of our success are far-reaching, create sustainable growth and contribute to our overall joy, wellness and purpose in every sphere of our lives.
Melanie C. Klein, M.A. and Emily Bossert are two highly sought-after coaches known for empowering individuals and teams to achieve their full potential and success. Together, they co-coach a 90-day group coaching program offering over 52 years of experience at the intersection of mindfulness, embodiment, conscious leadership and entrepreneurship.