The life lesson: being a successful woman doesn’t just happen; you have to take specific steps. The successful woman: Katherine Hepburn, because she did what it took to get what she wanted!
“As one goes through life, one learns that if you don’t paddle your own canoe, you don’t move.” – Katharine Hepburn.
For more inspiration and motivation, click on This is Not the Life I Ordered: 50 Ways to Keep Your Head Above Water When Life Keeps Dragging You Down by Deborah Collins Stephens, Jackie Speier, Michealene Crisini Risley, and Jan Yanehiro. And, read on for five steps to being a successful woman, inspired by quotations from Anita Roddick, Barbara Walters, Dorothea Brande, and Linda Ronstadt. See Jane Soar!
5 Ways to be a Successful Woman – Katherine Hepburn
You may be interested in reading The Definition of a Successful Woman – Eleanor Roosevelt.
1. Take back your power. You give away your power when you say or think things like, “Oh, I couldn’t do that!” and “I don’t deserve this,” and “How could anyone find me attractive, or hire me, or pay me that much money?” The first step to being a successful woman is to take back your power. Find the support and guidance you need; overcome your habit of being your own worst critic. Listen to Katherine Hepburn’s advice, and learn to paddle your own canoe.
2. Identify what’s holding you back. “It’s not who you are that holds you back; it’s who you think you’re not,” said Barbara Walters. Do you think you’re not smart enough, not skinny enough, not pretty enough, or not strong enough? The second step to being a successful woman is to identify how you’re holding yourself back. Be aware of what you’re afraid of.
3. Tune in to your talents. “Have you let other people talk out you of pursuing something you’re good at?” ask the authors in This is Not the Life I Ordered. ”Have you bowed to pressure and abandoned a project that was meaningful to you?” Don’t let other people’s criticism or indifference quell your dreams. And remember — you are meaningful and valuable just the way you are. “If you think you’re too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito,” said Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop.
4. Clean up your “to-do” list. The fourth step to being a successful woman is to get rid of your emotional and physical clutter! Get rid of the things you don’t need to do, that don’t matter, that don’t create value, that don’t make a difference. Figure out if you’re taking responsibility for stuff that isn’t yours. Make sure everything takes you toward the your goals and dreams – not away.
5. Create an upward spiral. Successful women turn “woe is me” into action - and proceed confidently. Poet Dorothea Brande said, ”All that is necessary to break the spell of inertia and frustration is this: Act as if it were impossible to fail.” No matter what you’re struggling with or how defeated you feel, take one step forward. Maybe that means calling for a college course guide or searching for grief support groups on the internet.
Maybe creating an upward spiral means that you have to accept change and take risks:
“So life changes and you have to change too. I don’t like change, but I’ve learned you just put your hands over your eyes and step off the edge.” – Linda Ronstadt.
What do you think about these steps to being a successful woman? I welcome your comments below…
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These are great steps to success Laurie. I’ve been looking at step 1 myself these days as I ready myself to approach agents/publishers with my new book proposal. Taking back my power by letting go of the beliefs that I have to be a ‘big somebody’ in order to have a great agent and publisher is just a limiting belief. When I touch into who I am underneath all of my thoughts, fears, limiting beliefs etc. I realize I am just as big as every other successful person, and when I blow away the illusive idea that agents/publishers etc are bigger than me, I see that we are all people who have wonderful skills and gifts to offer that can join up as a team to offer them to the world. Mine is writing, theirs is getting the writing out there.
I really like the upward spiral step as well as I see how that has helped me to get to where I am today – one small step at a time. When I look at the bigger goal it can be intimidating, but when I just focus on the step in front of me it’s so much easier, and before I know it, I’m past that goal and moving towards another.
Thanks, Gini……I value your feedback! And, I love that you’re tapping in to your personal power. We can accomplish amazing things when we do that.
If you ever disagree with anything I write, please do let me know. I’d love to hear what you think.
Best of luck with the book proposal….I suspect you’ll be signing a contract with an agent and then a publisher before you know it!
Laurie
Hi,
My favorite quotation about being a successful woman is
“We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” – Margaret Mead.