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| SUCCESS: CELEBRATE YOUR INDIVIDUALITY Divine When Defined KEEP COLORING YOUR PARACHUTE By Stacey Kumagai By Stacey Kumagai |
Back in my early days of TV hosting, I had a show
segment which was themed "Success." I was barely
19 years old and hadn't yet had a taste of what that
truly meant other than being successful in winning a
medal for baton twirling; getting all A's; or winning a
competition for journalism or a school leadership
election. WHAT WAS SUCCESS, ANYWAY?
I had to ask my TV guest, 'what is your personal
definition of success?"
According to my friends, neighbors and some
relatives, success meant material things like a home,
car and a job title... so I was in awe of my guest's
answer - because it wasn't anything I had heard
before....
"Success is having passion for what you do - and if
you enjoy what you are doing, the money will come..."
Hmm.... although that sounded so 'easy' and cliche'....
I had to ponder this further.
At the time, aside from TV and radio work, I was also
working at Disneyland in Guest Relations. And
giving VIP tours was always fun, because I would
learn so much from others in various levels of life.
From the wife of the President of Cameroon, to the
future James Bond, Pierce Brosnan, I was interested
in the VIP tours because, what 'defined' them as a
VIP, anyway? Did it mean they were successful at
what THEY did? And WHO defined it? Who could
measure SUCCESS at that point to say 'hey, you
qualify to get a VIP tour?'
While Walt Disney always said that everyone is a
VIP... what became clear, as I walked through the
entrance to Sleeping Beauty's castle, was simply in
one of Disney's classic tunes, performed by Jiminy
Cricket (Cliff Edwards)....
When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you
If your heart is in your dream
No request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star
As dreamers do
Fate is kind
She brings to those who love
The sweet fulfillment of
Their secret longing
Like a bolt out of the blue
Fate steps in and sees you through
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true
Silly as this all seems.... the irony at the time had me
creeped out. There lies the answer... your PASSION,
YOUR DREAM - like my TV guest said, "Do what you
love and the money will come..."
One of the common denominators of all of my clients
is just that, they all do what they love. Whether they
are musicians or authors, filmmakers or event
producers or business people who are creative, or
put their belief in their charitable causes and
pro-actively demonstrate their determination... it's
what makes them successful.
For me, personally - I have defined success to be
different things at different times. Sometimes, it's
about making others happy with the work I do, or
maybe how I inspire people in my life to 'go for their
dreams.'
Being an over-achiever has brought me as much
success, as it has stress all the while giving me
some sense of satisfaction, enjoying the creative
process. Over the years, the lives intertwined with
mine, keep defining and redefining the divine
definition of what success truly means.
My mother passed away in the beginning of 2008.
She was 81. She battled Alzheimer's Disease for 26
long years and was in remission from breast cancer
for 15 years, starting just days before my father
passed away. My mother always defined success as
"doing what you can with what you have and making
the best of it." Simply put, that's how she always saw
it, because she lived during the time of war, being in
the U.S. Japanese relocation camps and always
talked about "only walking away with the clothes on
our back and what we could carry." But Jill
-of-all-trades, from making luggage to being a
cosmetologist, to being a seamstress - she
considered success to be survival and learning as
many skills as possible.
While, I received many calls during the passing of
legendary singer, Lou Rawls and the passing of
"West Wing" actor, John Spencer, both whom I did
p.r. for when they received their Lifetime
Achievement Career awards (which was a
benchmark of THEIR SUCCESSES).... nothing echoed
to my heart more than the 2007 passing of client and
friend, Director, Writer and Producer, Heather
Robertson, whom at the age of 38 died of Ovarian
Cancer...and in my book, died waaaaay too soon!
I am reminded by her spirit, her enthusiasm and her
passion that success meant, "doing what you love,
calling your own shots and doing things on your own
terms, not compromising your vision for what you want
to create, while enjoying life to the fullest in the
process." Heather got it! And she lived it.
I am fortunate to have a variety of definitions for
SUCCESS surrounding me in my life, by the people
who believed success to be different things.
Donny Osmond said, "Life Is Just What You Make It" ...
which isn't only just the title of an early recording hit
with his brothers and his autobiography, but a
philosophy... and I like it.
It goes with the idea of seeing the glass half full -
and that a positive attitude is better than a negative
one. We have the power within us to create change
and promote and progress a dream with our own
drive within life.
And we can make it to be what we ultimately want it
to be. And SUCCESS itself can be defined by a
myriad of terms we choose and how it fits in with our
own lives and perspective, both personally and
professionally.... we just need to define it.
I think the hardest part, isn't becoming a success...
as much as it is evolving to a place of peace,
serenity, contentment and acceptance of what
SUCCESS TRULY IS, what it means for us individually
and how we see it.
Life is short - we can't underestimate the power we
have within us to make a difference.
For me... if I can inform, inspire, educate, entertain
and enlighten, and someone walks away - thinking,
feeling, reacting and is affected positively about
what I have said or done or shared... I have, defined
what SUCCESS is to me.
And to define it is divine!
Copyright © 2008 Media Monster
Communications, Inc.
BrainGASM Productions
Entertainment Media
Communications, Inc.
BrainGASM Productions
Entertainment Media
I was lucky enough to be part of one of the
most progressive, innovative and forward
thinking public school systems. My school
recommended "What Color Is Your
Parachute?" and "Discover What You're
Best At" and a buffet of other books to put
everyone on the right path to a successful
life and career of their choosing. However,
I have to say that it was the teachers who
'thought outside the box' who gave the
foundation for Life Skills 101, creative
thinking, problem-solving and making
students put themselves in challenging
situations, that made for a more successful
road than books alone.
While I had many teachers who were
inspiring in many ways, I had a select few
'outside of the box' thinking educators who
presented very edgy, super-savvy ideas in
teaching.
What's amazing to me, is that these teaching
mavericks paved their own way by being
different. Utilizing their own uniqueness
as a means to be successful at their own
craft, to me, means that they created THEIR
OWN parachute. But perhaps what they
didn't realize, is that the color of their
parachutes were technicolored. They didn't
just use ONE color out of the Crayola box of
life, they used all 64 and even blended
some to create colors of their own....
standing out, being different and being
uniquely brilliant.
It's not always easy to be different. It's even
more difficult to purposely be this way, like
swimming upstream. But if you can succeed
by doing such, you've developed quite an
array of options for handling life because of
out-of-the-box thinking.
Mr. Sal (one of my Jr. High teachers) had the
entire class walk the busy city streets and
even try to cross them, with blindfolds on,
to see what it was like to be a blind person
and what you would do, if suddenly one of
your senses was taken away.
He did this to teach humility and gratitude, as
well as to rely upon senses you take for
granted every single day. This is stuff you
can't learn out of a book... you learn by
experience and by doing. These are
important life skills which, if learned can
provide a platform for success, like no
other.
My second grade teacher, Miss Leavitt was
a Lifeguard. She made sure each one of her
students graduated her class, not just in
academics, but also learned how to swim
before going onto the third grade. We
would learn to swim after a whole day of
class.
The irony of 'sink or swim' and the life
lesson in that alone is priceless. Not only
as it applies to business, but to life itself...
staying afloat, knowing when to tread,
swimming for your life, looking out for sharks,
making good timing, diving in, jumping in with
both feet and knowing when to come out of
the water.
Lots of people let their own egos get in the
way of succeeding in life, not just as
business people, but as human beings.
Somehow, what is lost and forgotten is how
to put yourself in someone else's shoes or
put someone else's needs ahead of your
own.... or to be sensitive to the idea that
people who are 'without' can succeed
anyway - as it is merely about attitude,
personal drive and overcoming obstacles.
Above all, having vision beyond the
obvious is a key to succeeding in life and
that requires taking the time to prioritize
about what really matters.
I have this refrigerator magnet which says
"Success is what happens when preparation
meets opportunity." And I whole-heartedly
believe that is true. But I am also a believer
that you sometimes have to pave your own
path toward opportunity.
Nothing is more frustrating to me than
seeing talent go to waste... and I have to
wonder, as I see 'the total package' sitting
there, undiscovered, untapped.... what's the
problem?
While I know the world is sometimes unfair,
cruel and unkind, and those who are 'due'
for their time in the sun or spotlight should
get their fair shake to be and do what they
desire, I also look at the 'bigger picture.'
If you've ever questioned fate or destiny or
wondered why timing was off ... QUESTION
NO MORE! It is simply the Universe's way of
saying "there are other things you need to be
doing, learning, experiencing, achieving,
enduring or working on, right now." I think
the sooner we all 'get this' ... the easier life
becomes about accepting what dealt hands
are presented for us to grow from. This is
part of that refrigerator magnet...
PREPARATION.
Some people think preparation is only about
honing your particular skills toward your
chosen craft - i.e. if you are a singer,
refining your voice. But what if you needed
to experience a death in life, or quit
smoking, or have your heart broken ... to be
a better singer? I know this seems
strange, but this is also part of 'preparation.'
Not just making your voice better and
healthier, but feeling emotions you've
never felt before, singing with more SOUL,
EMOTION AND PASSION - because now
you've LIVED LIFE? Wouldn't THAT make you
better at your craft, too?
Instead of looking at the 'oh-poor-me' angle
of life and life's events, sometimes the most
heart-wrenching things are indeed gifts in
other ways. AND THAT IS WHAT MAKES US
UNIQUE and adds colors to our parachute
and helps us succeed in whatever we do
personally or professionally.
If we stretch those muscles which make us
different, show all our colors and celebrate
the uniqueness within ourselves, and take
the time to exercise our own individuality
through adversity... we will have succeeded.
