Programmed to Fail

I love what I do. I've been working as a Business Specialist with many kinds of companies from healthcare-related companies to business-related companies on every scale from start-up companies to mid-size and large organizations for the past thirty-two years. I've realized that every challenge that I was faced with, that every tear that I cried, and that all of my fears served to prepare me and, ultimately, to contribute to my success.

Fear...crippling fear!.. The words, the thoughts, the paralyzing feeling of FAILURE. I had heard it so many times as a child as I was growing up. "You Can't", "You will never...", "You wish you could...", "You aren't", "You won't...", "Who do you think you are?", "You are and always will be nothing." These negative forms of communication replayed in my head every time I tried to succeed at something. Always being criticized, compared to the best and singled out for what I wasn't or couldn't do. The thoughts were equal to not being good enough or capable enough or worthy enough and they went on and on and on. Between my fears of not being good enough and my tears of frustration, I did everything I could to hold on to the desire to succeed that was very much alive inside of me. A deep need lived in my soul to be more than what everyone said or thought I could be. A raging fire with robust fiery flames of relentless determination burned inside of me into the very depths of my being. I had to be all that I could be. It was my dream and, regardless of the negative influences that swirled all around me since childhood, I refused to let go of the dream of becoming a successful entrepreneur. As I grew older, I became completely absorbed and focus-driven to overcome any and every challenge that my life had presented me with. I didn't know how, but I knew that somehow I would...it was just a matter of time.

I had decided early-on that in order to acquire the tools and knowledge that I needed to reach my goals, I would need to surround myself with people who were successful in the trades that I was interested in. So, I set out to do exactly that. I started attending everything I could from professional networking functions to seminars to medical conferences to business reunions to reading personal growth books to listening to self-help audio recordings and so on and so on and so on. I did the work, the inner-work...I went deep within myself and began on a journey to find myself, to find my way to success. To be all that I could be, to be the absolute best version of me!

You see, I left home at the early age of fifteen years old. I opened my first business at seventeen years of age and there was no stopping me after that. It took me the following nine years of dedicated, non-stop hard work to get to where I wanted to be (based on what I wanted at that time). However, I paid a price for it as I didn't have balance in my life. My personal life had greatly suffered and, as a result of working all of the time, the challenges became more intense and life got even harder. I was now facing divorce as well as struggling with self-employment. I felt hopeless and helpless at times but I pushed through those feelings and put the negative thoughts aside. I knew that I had to make it, not just for myself anymore, but for my daughter as well. After realizing what had happened in the process, I knew that I had to establish a balance in my life. After all, I had become a single parent. So, I started by identifying my priorities. At that time, my first daughter was only three years old. I knew that things had to shift so I started taking college courses after work and I would take her along with me while I attended night classes so that I could increase my knowledge base. I realized that I needed to work smarter so that I could balance motherhood, being a provider and become a successful business woman.

Time passed and things started to change slowly for the better. I lectured and offered personal training sessions in New York and then published my first book, "Reach, Feel, Believe" in 1999. By overcoming my fears and limiting beliefs, I realized that if I could overcome challenges, both professional and personal, anybody could. So, I started working with people to help them reach their professional and personal goals by teaching them how to identify and overcome their challenges. This was just the start of my career towards success. I believed in myself, I believed in the skills that I had acquired and I created proprietary success formulas so that I could teach others how to become successful entrepreneurs as well.

My business was finally flourishing and I went on to open multiple businesses after that, as well as, working with others to help them become successful entrepreneurs. I had obtained hands-on life experience which I supplemented with a college degree as well as related certification courses to validate my role as a Business Specialist and Business Coach. In addition to that, I felt that there still was more that I was meant to do, so I started to offer some of my time to doing pro bono work for companies and individuals who wanted to shift into becoming entrepreneurs but weren't financially strong enough to pay for my services. I offered my services pro bono to five individuals per year as well as volunteering myself to speak about entrepreneurship at business luncheons and other business gatherings. I had become a successful, financially-independent entrepreneur and business coach. I went on and started various companies from scratch and I was reaping success. I became really good at business start-ups and business development due to the vast exposure of working with other people's businesses as well as my own.

The key to my success was perseverance. To face my fears and to confront my challenges. In the process, I found myself, I learned how to heal myself and I learned to believe in myself. All I had to do at that point was apply what I had learned to make a difference in the world. I combined entrepreneurship with philanthropy and used everything that I had learned in life to help others. As a result, I not only reached my goals, I've helped others create their businesses and become successful entrepreneurs.

Life is filled with blessings. The road to success is sometimes challenging, but challenging is not impossible.