How To Avoid Epic Career And Life Fails

Success guru Sheryl Grant cites 3 ways a mental ‘road map’ can help you reach work and life goals

For entrepreneur, professional speaker and success coach Sheryl Grant, transformational leadership through personal development and community building is the name of the game. A Ms. Olympia at over the age of 50, Sheryl clearly knows what it takes to realize over-and-above achievement both in life and in business. Today, through her eponymous company Sheryl Grant Enterprises, this powerhouse is helping CEOs, executives, entrepreneurs and other professionals master key areas of their careers and lives overall. 

Her secret sauce? Sheryl taps into a trifecta of neuro-training, physical fitness and increased productivity to unlock personal ambition, revenue potential and self-confidence. Sheryl urges that success-minded people must aspire to be F.I.T., heavily leaning on “Faith, Intuition and Tenacity” to reach their goals. 

“F.I.T. cultivates your inner ability to push through any of life's perceived obstacles, break through barriers and manifest your heart’s dreams and desires,” Sheryl explains. “Whether you seek a job promotion, new business endeavor or a healthier body, F.I.T. helps establish a mindset and emotional framework that will nurture, uplift and inspire these and other areas of your life.”

A key area of Sheryl’s various F.I.T. presentations and webinars is a focus on developing mental strength through neuro-training, whereby she offers a variety of tactical techniques related thereto.  With this having piqued my curiosity, I recently connected with Sheryl for insight on some of her mind-bolstering methodologies that, as Sheryl explains, can help us cultivate a greater awareness of who we are, develop a road map of where we need and want to go, and conceptualize how we intend to get there:

Begin by asking yourself some basic questions: Who are you? What are you good at? What do people you care about see in you? When have you felt the most alive? What can you learn from others who have a strong purpose and who are inspirational to you? Such self-awareness fosters drive, confidence and self-esteem that can transform you into an unstoppable force,—giving you the strength to persist...even through failure and adversity. You’ll likely be happier, too, and an inspiration to those around you.

When people are living in their “sweet spot,” they are more productive and naturally add value to the world around them. Accordingly, this “mode” is when people also tend to make more money! What are the things you’ve always been good at? What motivates and inspires you? Perhaps it’s things that come naturally to you, to the point that you wonder why others struggle in the same area? While passion can also certainly blossom from areas in which you aren’t naturally talented, Sheryl’s personal and professional experiences have shown that we rarely aspire toward ambitions for which we have no natural talent to achieve. As civil rights leader Howard Thurman once wrote, “Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive, then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Indeed they do.

Doing work that you’re good at, but which holds no passion for you, is not a pathway to fulfilment. When we know our greatest strengths and where we as individuals can add the most value, we can better focus on the opportunities, roles and career paths in areas where success will likely occur. These are usually the same areas where a person finds the greatest sense of accomplishment and contribution. All too often we undervalue our strengths, skills and the expertise that we naturally acquire over time. A great way to discover this for ourselves is to discern what we’re equipped to help solve in the workplace, career, organization or industry. Also, uncovering what problems we enjoy solving, and what problems we feel passionate about attempting to solve.  The answers to these questions can help people focus and develop a much clearer series of intentions that are based on natural strengths and those things one is innately good at rather than trying to bolster or eliminate weaknesses.  

Through overcoming personal challenges in multiple areas in her life helped by employing the strategies above, Sheryl says she quickly learned that her biggest difficulty was not the obstacles in front of her, but rather the lack of belief and trust in herself. By shifting from a focus on fear and limitations to a focus on empowerment fueled by faith, intuition, and tenacity (F.I.T.), she reached greater heights than ever before...and continues to do so.

In summarizing the above, Sheryl also conveyed her belief that, ultimately, unlocking one’s inner presence makes leaders the best business people and human beings that they can be.   Sheryl suffered in her own life until she established, and wholeheartedly practiced, her F.I.T. philosophy. In doing so, she not only realized extreme changes but also actually enjoyed the process...and the people around her enjoyed her more as welI. I, for one, will certainly relish my own journey striving to get F.I.T.