What are the prerequisites for successful life and what needs to change to help women achieve balance and success?
Your journey through life is reflection of your state of mind. What is success? People often measure success through financial gain, material possessions (house or car), working long hours and having good standard of living.
I believe my success is my state of mind. I set achievable goals (daily, weekly, monthly and yearly); I keep constant focus on my personal and company values; I prioritise the important issues; I maintain positive attitude; recognise success within my company; and live life to the full.
I am leader through ‘walking the walk’ and I don’t offer business advice if I haven’t experienced the relevant situation.
You have to experience business life cycles yourself. You need to know what it is like to start up business with no capital, grow that business, have employment issues, decrease business operation, have your back against the wall with financial pressures, be passionate about your business, experience your personal growth and development.
One of my principles is to never be afraid of failing in business. If you fail at least you’ve had go – the easier option is to remain working for wages.
I have never considered I would fail in business. I have used the energy from the knockbacks and put-downs I have received in life as fuel for my success. For women to achieve balance and success in life we need to take ownership of this issue ourselves. Once again it comes down to our state of mind and how we translate our thoughts into action. I celebrate being woman and have never considered that woman can’t be as successful in business as men.
I often get asked how I succeed in male-dominated business environment? What is important to me is the state of mind of the individual not the gender. The attitude that we bring to every task in life will always determine the outcome we achieve.
In future we will see more women occupy the top jobs in the corporate world and succeed in their roles. Finding balance between work and life is an important issue and one that I continually grapple with on weekly basis. The balance I live today is the result of daily time management.
My 10-year-old daughter was diagnosed with cancer four years ago and with her continued treatment and struggles, balance has been an important priority. Our daughter’s illness has been gift to our family, teaching us to live each moment of the day – not letting that family moment pass by with the excuse of ‘I’m tired’ or ‘after my coffee’. Grab that moment with your children, whether or not you’re tired – it is moment you will never get again.
Through this experience I have learned what living life to the full is all about. I have not let the cancer control our lives – instead my daughter and I wrote new business plans (personal and business) on how we would control the cancer in our lives.
Through writing plans and living by them you stay in control, you maintain your positive state of mind and you live true to your values. M
Denise McBeth is MD of Taranaki-based Pete’s Post.
Email [email protected]
