5 Key Components to Finding Success on Your Terms

Last updated on May 22, 2023

As a retired teacher and vice-principal for 15+ years, and now as a business and mindset mentor,  I’ve been coaching, mentoring, and teaching amazing humans for decades. Through these experiences,  I have learned a lot about how humans work, learn, grow, achieve, operate, and find success.

If there is one thing that is quite evident when it comes to success, it’s that one-size-fits-all, cookie-cutter strategies are not effective nor sustainable. Yet, in the coaching world, we are seeing so many “gurus” claiming there is only one way to do things. 

This often leads coaches and mentors to dim their unique qualities, ignoring their intuition, doubting and diluting themselves in order to do it “the right way”—only to find they still don’t have success but instead feel defeated and want to throw in the towel.

You aren’t going to find success using a copycat strategy.

There is no RIGHT way; there is only the right way for YOU. 

I often get asked, “How did you retire from your 15-year teaching career in your 30s and go on to create a successful coaching/mentoring business?“

After working with thousands of incredible humans, one of the biggest transferable skills that helped me stand out in my industry AND leave my teaching career is leaning into the fact that there are many ways to find success. I mastered the art of combining energetics and strategy and burnt the rule book on what society told me I had to do to be successful.

(I highly recommend leaning into your power).

By leading with impact and intuition,  I put my blinders on and doubled down on some key components which I call The Success Framework. This framework has helped not only me but thousands of other humans find and maintain their success, and so I’d like to share it with you.

1.  Find YOUR definition of success.  

So many people are chasing other people’s goals, trying to imitate others’ success. They end up spinning their wheels pursuing something that isn’t even aligned with their own dreams, which results in them feeling unfulfilled and unhappy.

Ask yourself these 3 questions: 

• What are my core values? 
• What is my definition of success? 
• Is my business set up to match these?

Clarity breeds success. If you get clear on your values, your personal definition of success, and what you want, the rest falls into place.

2. Keep it simple. 

As humans, we tend to overcomplicate things. When you think about it, business is simple, but what we bring to business is what complicates it. When helping clients, creating an onboarding system, creating a  sales page, writing emails, and creating content, keep it simple. 

I often see Coaching Mistake 101: trying to give clients ALL the tools, do all the things, and be EVERYTHING to EVERYONE. One of the biggest things that shifted my business was simplifying every aspect of it.

One of the questions that has transformed my business is, “How can this be easy?”

3. Keep it real.  

The best piece of advice I can give you is to be yourself. It wasn’t until I showed up as authentically ME that everything shifted in my business.

Being raw, authentic, and showing up imperfectly have made me stand out, rather than blend in in my market. This is the number one reason people choose to work with me.

People buy from people, and when you let yourself be seen for who you are, that is why people will buy from you.

You are the secret sauce. There is only one you, and by doing like everyone else, you are diluting the very thing that is going to set you apart.

4. Be consistent. 

I know this might prompt an eye roll, but there is a reason consistency is the buzzword in rooms of successful people. 

I truly believe consistency is the key. Not because I love being consistent but because of how I made consistency work for me and what it brings to my life.

But making sure you’re being consistent with the right tasks is where the magic happens. 

Figure out your needle-mover tasks, and commit to doing them daily. To do this, turn down the noise of what others are doing, put your blinders on, and stay focused. When you get rid of the noise, everything changes. 

5. Ditch the EGO. 

This is a hard one for coaches to digest, but such a powerful tool to master for your clients and your business. Your ego is usually wrong, and you should never make decisions or coach your clients with your ego at the forefront.

It’s so important to learn how to manage your emotions and take a client-centered approach. When you check your ego, everyone wins. The best coaches are self-aware, self-led, and committed to the process of expansion of their self and mindset. 

A coach who leads with their ego will never reach the level of success they desire. 

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While there is no one way to be successful in business, this framework has been the key component that I come back to time and time again when I feel my business doesn’t feel right to me or I’m not getting the results I desire. 

By mindfully evaluating your work and aligning with what feels right to you—without yielding to the pressure of outside forces—you can have it all. You just have to be courageous enough to go for it.

Editor’s Note: Looking for further resources to determine your version of success? Check out this course based on four of the most popular courses taught at the Wharton School: Achieving Personal and Professional Success

Gina Keeping

Gina is the host of the Keeping it Real podcast, Mindset & Business Mentor & a certified Tony Robbins’ Life Coach, trained to guide you through transformations in both your life and business. She believes that we all have so much untapped potential and power to create a life we absolutely love.