Jane Flagello writes
mysteries with social and life lessons twists. After retiring from a management
professorship and a personal coaching practice, she found herself wondering
what was next. A creative academic at heart who loves to write, she combined
what she loves to do, resulting in her first novel. Now she takes her love of
writing and combines it with her goal to shine a light on societal problems not
often discussed. Learn more about Jane and her books at her website.
Finding the “YOU” in Success
Success
means different things to different people. Almost everyone who has realized success
know these simple truths: hard work comes first, success is a journey,
persistence is key, and what you define as success changes over time.
Want
to increase your success I.Q.? Ask yourself these two questions:
What’s going on inside me that causes me to do what I do—say
what I say—feel what I am feeling?
If
I don’t like the results I’m getting—or I want more or something
different—how do I change myself (meaning grow and develop) in ways that
produce the results I really want?
And
therein lies the rub—change! To get different
results you have to change what you’re doing. Change is the shoe that
pinches! To let go of what you have always done or planned to do, and seek new
ways to accomplish your goals plays out cognitively, emotionally, and
physically.
Your
ability to change is your critical success factor. Change
takes you out of your comfort zone. It can be frightening and confusing,
leaving you feeling vulnerable. Embracing change—your ability to change—is
the holy grail of what it takes to be successful today.
While change exerts a powerful force, the status quo is an
equally powerful, often unrecognized, force. It lulls you into a false sense of
complacency. It’s the “bird-in-hand” expression come to life. Fears of loss and
an increased sense of vulnerability reinforce the status quo. Why chance
changing anything? You know what your current actions are producing. You know
how to compensate in those areas where you are not fully up to speed. In some
way, you have made a conscious or unconscious decision that you can live with
this outcome.
Want
to enhance your opportunities for success? It’s all about changing the
choices you make emotionally, physically, spiritually, and cognitively. When
you are clear on the life you want for yourself, you can harness the power of
Y-O-U, keeping the actions that enable the results you really want and letting go
of the behaviors that prove detrimental to your success.
Consider
these “secrets” to success so that you can hone in on what you
need to change:
a)
Imagine a success picture of you. What does your picture look like? How far
away from that image are you now? What do you have to start doing/stop doing to
get closer to it?
b)
Identify areas in your life where you are stressed or are suffering. What
actions can you take to decrease your stress? What do you need to learn/do?
c)
Do things that bring you pleasure—that rich
inner feeling, that rush of exhilaration that comes from doing what you really
love and want to do. Work is only work when you don’t enjoy what you are doing.
And it is hard to be successful doing things you don’t enjoy.
When
you are at peace with yourself, your success will skyrocket. There is a
pattern, a meaning, a sense to life. It is bigger than we are, yet simpler to
achieve than we might imagine. Identify what success means for you, let go of
your past, create a plan and take your first step. You have a purpose, and a
responsibility to seek out your purpose and achieve it. And when you do, you
will have found the success you seek.
Complicity
Evil takes many forms, especially when fueled by the drive
to possess things that aren’t yours. The easier it is, the more you
take—feeding the devil within.
Morgan Kasen’s life is going nowhere. After two failed
marriages, she’s stuck in a dead-end job, writing puff pieces for a local
Williamsburg newspaper. Befriending Eli, a homeless man who squats outside her
local grocery store, feeds her compassionate side…until his disappearance
thrusts her into the dark world of black market organ trafficking. And the
promise of her big break—a career-making story worthy of a Pulitzer.
Her competition: Jesse Sinclair—a street-savvy New York City
reporter with Pulitzer on the brain…and a great butt in a tight pair of jeans.
What he’s willing to do to win his coveted prize challenges Morgan’s trust
issues to her core.
Enter two rogue entrepreneurs competing to satisfy their own
needs at the expense of the less fortunate. And then the bodies begin to pile
up, starting with a vagrant found in the woods missing a kidney.
Power, money, and murder combine in an intense hunt to stop
those responsible before any more innocent people lose critical body parts…or
their lives.
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Thanks for the post, Jane!
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