Did you think success was a fluke?

Success isn’t a fluke. (But sometimes we think it is). 

A year and a half ago, I had my highest earning month in my business. Four figures, and well over that benchmark, I was stunned. Excited, but stunned. And it seemed like, WOOT, I’m amazing. I did it. 

And that was exactly what I thought! I did it. 

But like Rapunzel, I needed a new dream as soon as I achieved that goal.

I set one. A bigger goal than even my four figures earnings. And do you know what happened?

I earned $600 the following month.

And then even less the month after that.

And (if that was even possible), even less after that.

And to be perfectly honest with you, here’s a few of the thoughts that started swirling through my head:

– My success was a fluke.

– I’m obviously not cut out for this.

– Or I obviously did something wrong in my strategy so I need to go back and redo EVERYTHING.

– And then sitting down to redo EVERYTHING is obviously inCREDibly daunting, so I just didn’t do it.

– And then I was overwhelmed by all the possibilities for my business once again.

A few things happen when you hit a goal. Especially a money goal. 

a) You often hit what Gay Hendricks calls an upper limit problem. (“It’s the most money you’ve ever earned in your life. So you clearly can’t earn any more.”)

b) You wonder where to go next. (“I barely believed I could achieve this goal. Now I’m supposed to set something bigger? Um, no thanks.”)

c) You go into a big contraction. Also known as, everything turns to crap.
That’s what happened for me. I did set a bigger goal, thinking, “Time for the next round!” but I’d hit an upper limit. And my whole body wanted to go into protection mode because things were getting too big.

And I earned less than I’d ever earned while working in my life for the next couple of months. Like low hundreds.

#everythingturnstocrap

Why does that happen?

Was my initial success a fluke?

How come other people are able to maintain their income and I can’t?

Maybe I’m just not meant for success?

Sound familiar?

When we achieve a big goal, and we’re not able to maintain it, we instantly believe that our initial success was a fluke, something that other people can achieve and we can’t, or that we did something wrong. 

Why do we believe that it was a fluke so quickly?

Because we believed we weren’t cut out for success all along. 
Thoughts that kept cropping up in my head throughout my low-hundreds-in-earnings months:

– My success was a fluke

– Because I don’t deserve to be successful

– Because I’m not good enough (for my dreams)

– Because my dreams are just nonsense childish wants (and I’m selfish to want them)

– Because they don’t have purpose and value

 

Meanwhile there were all these other thoughts:

– Luckiness is a fluke

– Success (and luck) is for other people

– Because I’m not good enough

– Because my dreams aren’t really my calling
As long as I let those beliefs run rampant, I kept earning in the hundreds. As soon as I kicked them to the curb, my success returned. 

Your mindset is crucial. Because if you – no matter how unconsciously – believe you don’t deserve success in the beginning, you’re not going to believe it when you get there. Ruthlessly work on your mindset. Your entire business depends on you, which means it rides on your mindset. Which means your mindset is as important as EVERYTHING ELSE COMBINED in your business.

Success isn’t a fluke. But when we believe it is, it is. 

Here are the truths:

– None of the previously stated negative beliefs are true (no matter how much it feels like they are at different points in your life).

– Luckiness and success are determined by grit.

– Grit is determined by a combination of belief in oneself and ruthless work on one’s mindset, as well as an understanding that sometimes you just have to buckle down and try something even if you don’t think you’re cut out for it.

– Because, as previously stated, none of the above negative beliefs are true.

My success wasn’t a fluke a year and a half ago. 

And honestly, my contraction into a couple of $400 months wasn’t a fluke either.

Because I believed I didn’t deserve success, I didn’t get it. It was as simple as that.

Belief. A strategy. And grit. 

That’s all I need in order to not give up, in order to be successful, and in order to be lucky. 

Your success isn’t a fluke.

And luck doesn’t just happen for other people.

You’re lucky when you know your dreams have purpose and value. You’re lucky when you believe in yourself and what you’re doing and you act like it. And you’re lucky when you don’t just wave a magic wand and cross your fingers for love and success (all the while with a sneaking, unspoken suspicion that you suck and you’re never going to make it), but ruthlessly work on whatever’s holding you back because you trust that your dreams have purpose and value (even if you’re not clear on what they are).

So tell me this: did you think it was a fluke?

And how will you make sure it’s not a fluke in future?