Happy Monday Reader!

We're back for a new affirmation to power us through the week.

Today's affirmation comes to us from my new friend Hazel! We met for coffee on Friday and she mentioned this gem, and I just had to steal it for us to use this week!

"I define my own success."

Or if you prefer, its inverse: "I define my own failure."

So often we let others define what counts as success or failure in our lives.

Relationship ended? You failed at love!

Closed a business after only a few years? You failed at being a business owner!

Got a bunch of student debt from going to college? You failed at making smart choices!

Any of these sound familiar?? You might even say them to yourself! It's easy to internalize beliefs like these.

But the truth is that trying something new, or ending something that isn't healthy or serving you well, is not failure.

We can "flip the script" as I like to call it, and find in these "failures" some life lessons learned. My coach, Stacy Boehman, says we are only ever succeeding or learning. Failure isn't a result unless we let it be. And we get to decide that.

For a long time I would have rolled my eyes at you if you had said these rose-colored-glasses concepts to me. "It's not facts!" I would have protested.

But in the last couple years I've realized...neither the success nor the failure interpretation is "fact"! It's just that--an interpretation of circumstances or events.

And if there isn't an objective way to decide if a business, or relationship, or debt is a failure...why not go ahead and choose the positive, empowering interpretation?

Let's flip the script this week on our beliefs about failure & success by repeating 21x every day "I define my own success."

P.S. Will I see you at GEW (Global Entrepreneurship Week) this week?? It's focused on all things being your own boss, but there are free networking events all week as well! It's an amazing free resource I recommend if you have any sort of business or side hustle. Check out GEWKC.com for the full schedule & details!

As always, affirmations work best when you truly believe them. They need to resonate with you and feel achievable. So feel free to modify any I suggest, or develop entirely new ones!

Say them as long as you want. I'm sharing a new affirmation each week, but that doesn't mean you have to switch it up each week unless it feels right. You can add new ones as often as you want and have as many as you want. You can say a different affirmation every day, or at different times of the day. You choose!

I'd love to hear the impact it has! (But if you decide affirmations are not for you, click here to be removed from this weekly email.)

I hope this affirmation sets you up for a kick ass week and I'll see you next Monday for a new one to try!

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