How do I measure success? It is through progress, my personal wellbeing during the process and how I impact others along the way. In recent years, personal wellbeing has moved from the bottom of the priority list to the very top.

For a long time, I made it my priority to please others, to bend over backwards for others and to achieve their goals for them. Don’t get me wrong, there were some very valuable lessons and it geared me up for what I am doing today. It also shaped me to the person I am because I worked alongside some amazing people that I call my mentors for life. They inspired me, they taught me to take responsibility for my mistakes and to stand up for myself.

As I often say, it is all about the people and the environment that help us excel or spiral downwards. Either way, all of the above help us grow and make us strive for more and I am grateful for it.

When I started this year, I set myself goals and followed my own examples. Some of them were more ambitious than others. Looking back, I can say that my goals at the beginning were not the same halfway through the year and a little different again at the end.

This is just it… the map is not the territory, but it guides you into the direction you want to go. Setting goals is essential and lifesaving in my opinion, but as you are approaching each one, you find hurdles and barriers along the way. The map does not tell you how deep the river is, or how rocky the road.

Don’t lose sight of the pot at the end of the rainbow but be prepared to take a detour to get there.