The 3 things that led me to my success and can lead you to yours
By: Joanna Howes
Tags: Leadership Skills, Business Development, Resilience, Success Story, Leadership Coaching

The 3 things that led me to my success and can lead you to yours Joanna Howes Jan 21·5 min read

A lot of people say to me ‘I couldn’t do what you do, Jo’. I have always been baffled as to why people believe that. It’s like they think I have something special or a secret skill that allows me to do what I do…

…and truth is, there really isn’t.

So, I spent some time thinking about what it is I do, or how I think, that has allowed me to transform my life and fulfil my dream.

I want to share them with you now in the hope that you realise it’s never too late and you too can achieve your dreams.

It’s all about choice and making a decision on how you want to live and the person you want to be.

Number 1 — Drive

I have valued drive since I was 18 years old. Before then I just sort of wandered through life. I followed the popular gang around, kept my head down and did what I needed to do to get by.

My priority was to fit in, not to excel.

It was at 18 that I then saw how fragile and short life was when my father suddenly passed away in front of me.

This was my life starting all over again.

I often wonder, to this day, who I might have been if that hadn’t happened.

After the grieving process and the running away from pain, something ignited in me. I was always a hard-worker — having worked for my dad in a restaurant from the age of 12 — but now there was something new, which I now know as ‘Drive’.

Nothing was going to stop me from being a success.

I didn’t get the qualifications expected at school and I didn’t pursue any further education, but this just fuelled my drive even more.

I would show the world that I could be somebody and do well.

3 ways to ignite your drive:

Visualise the life you want for yourself 5 years from now Know your why and make sure it is bigger than you — this will get you out of bed Keep moving forward one step at a time (they can be small steps)

Now, drive on its own wasn’t enough.

Photo by Arisa Chattasa on Unsplash

Number 2 — Resilience

The second factor that I valued and have built on a daily basis.

Seeing your Dad pass, your Nan have 3 heart attacks in the same night and continuous tragedies over the following 6 years…

I had a choice: To be a victim or to dig into my resilience.

The mental commitment I had made to my dad to make him proud (even though he wasn’t here anymore) enhanced my ability and purpose to build my resilience.

Don’t get me wrong, I can still get knocked down, and I did when I moved to Australia and very quickly found out the ‘dream job’ wasn’t going to work out. Now though, I am able to quickly rebuild myself to keep going, and with each knock my resilience just gets stronger and stronger.

What is resilience?

By definition it means: the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.

It’s also very important to understand that resilience is a state; it is not a personality trait. You can build your resilience levels and learn the tools and techniques to manage stress, uncertainty and adversity resourcefully to ensure your performance levels remain high.

3 ways to build your resilience:

Keep promises to yourself with your self-care Know how to be in charge of your own mind Realise that you are in control of how you see the world — no one else

Resilience has been one of the most important factors in being able to run my own business.

Going from 20 years in corporate to being on your own in business is massive, especially when you find out as you go the amount of different hats you need to wear!

Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

Number 3 — be a continuous learner

I fell in love with learning again 5 years ago. I was told I was average at school, which gave me the belief that everyone else was smarter than me.

This was very limiting and once I learnt how to let go of those limiting beliefs, the joy for learning flooded back into my life.

I cannot stress enough how doing just 15 minutes of learning everyday will move you towards the life and results you want.

I do an hour every morning and I read every day.

The world is full of the answers you are looking for and the inspiration to be the person you want to be.

Don’t settle.

It is proven by neuroscience that the brain can change, adapt and learn new ways of being. Leverage this and fuel your drive, raise your resilience and learn what could be possible for you.

It won’t happen overnight. But if you really want it, then it can be yours.