Truthful Thursday ~ Success?

I'd love to talk a bit about success.  

What is success?  

Who told you what success is?  

Do you consider yourself successful?  

What is the one thing you want to do to feel successful?

Good questions, right?

I love your emails and I wish I could respond to all of them. Here are some of the questions I get sometimes:

How did you start your business?

I want to start my own party planning business, can you give me advice?

How did you get a big following on facebook?

Where do I advertise?

Can I meet up with you and chat?

This is not professional business advice for anybody.  I am simply pouring out the truth about what I live and have learned over the years. 

In my opinion, here are some things you might consider if starting your own business:

#1 It is NOT EASY!  I often struggle wondering if I am doing the right thing, if I am spending enough time with my family,  if I should spend more time with my friends, etc..etc... 

#2 If you are married, be prepared for BIG challenges in your marriage.  This will be another long post....lol 

#3 It is exhausting, stressful at times and overwhelming if you don't have much help.

#4 Expect doors to close or not open when you knock. 

#5 It will take time to see your hard work pay off. 

I started by opening my etsy shop, A to Zebra Celebrations back in October 2009.  I listed items I had made for my daughter's zebra party.  I didn't take out a loan or got into any sort of debt to start this business. 

I continued to throw creative parties for my daughters and slowly started seeing all these party blogs and websites out there.  I would submit my parties for them to consider a feature.  Sometimes they would accept and other times they did not.  Keep knocking doors. 

I love parties! I am passionate about every little detail and creating pretty things for a unique and gorgeous party!

I love to inspire you.  I want you to find your creative nitch.  It may not be parties, but something else.  I believe God has given us different talents, strengths and gifts to feel and be successful.  

Do you ever hear someone say: "Follow your dreams".....what the heck is that?....lol

Let's break it down...... and start with this:

What do you love to do in your spare time?

What do you enjoy reading about?

What do you feel you are good at?

What do people say you are good at?

Do you get compliments when you do something creative?

What do you want to do with your talents, strengths, gifts?

Start with one little step. Whatever you feel success is, it will take time to grow.  

When does someone start or stop to be successful?  

I believe YOU are successful and you never stop being successful.  You are a successful woman, friend, daughter, mom, sister, etc...  You are talented, you can do anything but not everything, you are gifted, unique, strong, you are loved, you are special, you are blessed, you are created to be prosperous and successful! 

Success is not just a business.  

Success is to inspire, help, encourage, love, accept, reach out, listen, share, and do what makes you happy!  

What do you believe success is?