Accomplishments
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” {Jesus’ words to Paul}. Therefore, (Paul says,) I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9
Are accomplishments tied to core values? Does what we value most help us to accomplish our dreams? What happens if we fall short?
In today’s Blog we will look at these questions.
A sense of accomplishment can be such a wonderful feeling, and yet, not attaining it can be terrifying and put us in the doldrums for weeks, if not months.
Needing to succeed tends to measure our most creative aspirations, and our hardest endeavors. If we attain what we set out to do – we feel good. However, if we fall short, by even the tiniest bit – we feel as if we failed.
Dilemma
I have always been fascinated with the Celestial Seasonings Tea Company’s story. In 1969 A group of young visionary entrepreneurs began harvesting wild herbs from the fields and forests of the Rocky Mountains and began making tea. And they began the herbal tea movement.
So exciting for them!
In 1991 I started a handmade natural soap business. I wanted to create a natural soap that would be wonderful on the skin and safe for our environment.
I used natural ingredients, such as oatmeal, cocoa, paprika, and the finest of essential oils in my soaps. I dreamed that one my business would be as successful as Celestial Seasonings. Anyone who knew me back then, knew it was my goal.
The Struggle
My company grew. And grew fast. Our products were sought after all over the country. We bought a booth at three Renaissance Festivals, went to all the major Christmas craft shows in our area, and expanded into the wholesale market.
At one point we had thirteen employees, fifteen sales representative groups, and sold our products in hundreds of Mom-and-Pop gift stores across the country.
It took both my husband and I working more than full-time just to keep up with everything. And to top it off, we opened our own store. We even had a store front on Amazon.
We were thrilled when we stopped leasing a building and built a soap factory. We could manufacture faster and grow larger.
These were exciting times.
Mind you, we experienced difficulties along the way and had to give up many personal and family opportunities because of how much we worked. But I dreamed of being as big as the tea company and thought is was worth the sacrifice.
Time went by and I decided we could franchise our soap business. I put my business idea on YouTube acurtis621 – YouTube.
After all the hard work of putting together a franchise we decided to sell our business instead.
We worked our hearts out, but never had a million-dollar year. And our business never became the next Celestial Seasonings.
Did I fail?
Insight
We had many smaller accomplishments during those fifteen years. The memories we made and people we met along the way are irreplaceable. We reached milestones we were proud of. Yet we didn’t accomplish our goal.
Hope
I learned so many things about myself owning that business. I developed a sense of ethics, perseverance, fairness, leadership, management, organization, the list is endless.
The choices I made during those years established my character for the rest of my life. Had it been easy, it would have taken me a lifetime time to develop my core values, if ever.
Did I fail?
Encouragement
I want to offer fellow visionaries and creatives out there a bit of encouragement. You may be struggling because you haven’t, or haven’t yet, reached the goal you set out or yourself.
But remember, you are learning something vital about yourself while you try. You are building your character. You are establishing core values to live by and making a mental list of your accomplishments.
Discovery
Core values shape who we are, and how we live our lives.
Follow these 3 simple steps to discover your core values.
From the list below write down the ten values which are most important to you.
From the list you’ve made, cross out four values, leaving only six.
Now, from the list of six, cross out three more, leaving your three core values.
Peace
Wealth
Integrity
Joy
Acceptance
Happiness
Love
Success
Recognition
Friendship
Family
Fame
Relationships
Authenticity
Wisdom
Spirituality
Accomplishment
Power
Truth
Status
Influence
Justice
Connection
Respect
Faith
Empathy
Courage
Creativity
Cooperation
Excellence
Ethics
Wisdom
Grace
Health
Honesty
Loyalty
Once you have narrowed down to your top three values, keep them close and make career and life choices based upon what you value most.
Conclusion
The journey of realizing your accomplishments may take months if not years. Sometimes you must distance yourself from what you think are failures before actually realizing they were not failures at all.
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