The Formula for Success That Money Can't Buy

It's time for us to all help each other stop spinning our wheels and overworking for an outdated and unworkable, one-size-fits-all definition of success. I believe business leaders should make the shift to knowing and living the concept that success is a personal thing. It's unique to each of us. Sure, everyone is already a success in their own way—by their own definition, once they are able to cultivate that definition and embrace it and feel the "enoughness" that comes along with this mindset. Success is a profoundly personal word that combines our deepest hopes, dreams and desires all folded under one big umbrella.

In my years of managing, coaching and interacting with people, I usually see two recurring themes with success: 1) feeling stuck, and 2) feeling as though you're not enough or don't have enough based on outdated or traditional measures that are so off, you revert back to feeling stuck.

So what does it mean if you are stuck? Perhaps you're stuck in a job, a relationship, or a place and you intuitively know things could be different but don’t know where to begin. How can we move past the stereotypical symbols of success such as financial wealth, material possessions, fame, adoring followers, and power and redefine success for ourselves once and for all, personally and professionally?

Here's the secret: When you visualize, actualize, and amplify excellence and success, you can reap rewards that often can't be measured. Based on my own experience, let's look at five steps you can use to redefine success.

1. Align your heart, truths and energy.

Most of us are soul-searching for an alignment to purpose for what we truly love to do. When we aren't doing this, we feel off or stuck and often dismiss our dreams as hobbies, pipe dreams or things that just won't pay enough. But I encourage you to think with your heart, live and show up authentically, and understand that you go where you place your energy. When these things align, you can do anything. It's time to go inward, upward, and outward to see it, be it and do it and live your life authentically. It's time to feel proud and valuable rather than searching, seeking and feeling stuck or "less than." Breakthroughs can happen when truth intersects with infinite possibilities.

2. Root in gratitude.

Understand that what you consider success for you may not be what success is for someone else. Practice being grateful for how you are, what you have, what your expertise is, and what you offer to the world. Be grateful for the present moment, and take comfort in infinite possibilities. When you allow yourself to be rooted in gratitude and benchmark your success with it, you can arrive in each moment aligned with your purpose for being here. When you see things from the point of view of "I get to" rather than "I have to" you can use the practice of gratitude to your benefit.

3. Manage your time.

You are not entitled to time. This concept hit me like a freight train when my dad had a series of strokes and ultimately passed away. Nearly everything revolves around our ability to manage and navigate our time. You have a choice in each moment of how to be, and you have choices in what you say, what you do, how you react, and more. Understand that each moment of your life matters and that it is important to be your best in each of them.

It's time to manage to five D's: Distractions, Destructors, Deductors, Derailers and Drama. These are energy-wasters. 

• Distractions prevent you from giving your full attention in the moment.

• Destructors tears down or deallocate something you've built and pull you out of score, even altering your perspective.

• Deductors take away from your life. They subtract. 

• Derailers completely take you off course, thus halting progress or momentum.

• Drama creates a spectacle with unexpected events, twists and turns.

Remember that managing distractions is an ongoing process. Take note of what specifically distracts you. Understanding the source of distractions can help you address them more effectively.

4. Be the hero of your own story.

My goal is for you to turn everything you confront into a success. You can walk away from each experience success and fresh wisdom. Be proud of yourself, believe in yourself, maintain your self-worth, and put your intentions in motion. You life is powered by you. Oftentimes, encounters such as rejection, rivalries, or even society can make you feel like you have something to prove. If you have ever heard to said no, buckle up, because you are getting rerouted, redirected, changed, or halted, and it is time to decide. This is your life, your dream, and your vision, and no one can see it as clearly as you. Don't allow rejection to detract you from your dreams; instead, understand the power of a pause and how messy success can be. It's not usually instant, and it isn't a straight path upward.

5. Create comprehensive success.

I'm a big fan of well-rounded, comprehensive success. This means you bring a sense of success and peace to each area of your life and don't have one area wildly out of balance to the detriment of other areas of your life. Build a strong foundation without excuses and regrets, then look at the various areas of your life to bring them into a basic operational baseline that can promote and sustain success. While you are building a ladder to growth, you may have non-negotiables—beliefs and actions that help you create your foundation in multiple areas of your life. When you practice comprehensive success, it can create the depth needed to focus on multiple areas, which can help make success and all of its facets work for you.

As you define success for yourself personally and professionally, you can expand excellence and your capacity for growth! I have found that by rooting oneself in gratitude and operating with a sense of abundance and peace, you can allow contentment to can take hold. It's time to find your formula for peace and celebrate the success that no amount of money can buy.

About Elizabeth Hamilton-Guarino

In 2008, Elizabeth Hamilton-Guarino closed the door to her office to think about her life. When she opened it, she walked through, leaving behind an almost two-decade career in the financial services industry in order to open the doors for The Best Ever You Network.

Elizabeth is a bestselling author, success strategist, change facilitator, trainer, and speaker focused on helping others root in gratitude and compassion to navigate change and breakthrough to their best success. 

She is the founder of Best Ever You, a revolutionary multimedia brand and platform with millions of fans and followers around the world. She is a tireless champion of others and believes in the need for the individual light within to raise the collaborative power of us and we.

Elizabeth is the author of the bestselling, five-time award-winning book, The Change Guidebook: How to Align Your Heart, Truths, and Energy to Find Success in All Areas of Your Life and The Success Guidebook - How to Visualize, Actualize, and Amplify You. She is also the author of PERCOLATE - Let Your Best Self Filter Through published by Hay House.

A highly sought-after expert and frequent speaker, Elizabeth has been featured by national and international media publications including Good Housekeeping, U.S. News and World Report, Forbes, Thrive, Medium, and more. In addition, her popular 4-4-4 Newsletter is sent out to thousands of subscribers each week.

Elizabeth Hamilton-Guarino has multiple life-threatening food allergies (Anaphylaxis) to peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish. Elizabeth was featured on the cover of MedicAlert Magazine, which was mailed to over one million people. Elizabeth wears a MedicAlert for Anaphylaxis. She has multiple, life-threatening food allergies. Elizabeth serves on the board of Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Connection Team (“FAACT”) as a spokesperson. In 2020, Elizabeth teamed up with bestselling children's book author Sally Huss to create the bestselling children's books A Lesson For Every Child: Learning About Food Allergies and Dream Big with Food Allergies

Elizabeth and her husband, Peter, have been married for more than twenty-five years and have four adult sons, three rescued cats, and two dogs. They can often be found in Maine in their gardens, in the pool, raking leaves, or, depending on the season, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. 

You can learn more and sign up for the e-newsletter at elizabethguarino.com and by visiting BestEverYou.com.