As I browsed through my Facebook page tonight I saw this question posed by Rachel Thompson of BadRedhead Media: What’s your definition of success? This is something she asks her clients – so I took a stab at answering it on her page but wanted to really explore my response here.
Until this question was presented I never really had a clear view on what my definition of success was. I guess most people would define success as wealth or power or even fame, but what first came to my mind when I read that question wasn’t really any of those things. Rachel prompted her question further by asking if it was books sales, followers, blog hits, or comments? And sure, sales are great and make me excited to know that people are buying (and hopefully liking) my book. Followers are fun because I get to meet so many great new people. Blog hits do make me smile knowing people are checking out what I have to say – especially since this is my first real experience with blogging. And comments? The constructive ones are great – I like learning from others. But even with all of that, I feel that my definition of success is the fact that I stepped outside my comfort zone, kind of into the limelight so to speak, with my writing – putting something out there that has become a large piece of who I am. Taking the self-publishing route has allowed me to grow and learn as a writer, to expand and enhance my writing life in ways I never thought possible before. Taking those steps into a more public life – even one that is online – is big for me as I tend to like to fade into the background, go unnoticed – that’s always been my safe zone. Being a published author has forced to me step out into the forefront and take charge of my success.
Before encountering this question I would not have known how to define my own success or to even say that I was successful…but what I have done, what I have accomplished, the world I am now stepping into…all of that has made me a success and I am going to embrace it!
