The Sacrifices of Becoming A Successful Woman

by Nakoreya “Nako” Roberson

When I was asked to blog on this certain topic, well let me first say it was about three in the morning but  MOGULS don’t sleep we take cat naps. I wrote it down on my calendar and told myself, “This will be interesting”. I used the word interesting for several reasons, I’m not quite sure I’ve reached the peak of success just yet.

Success is defined as the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors; the accomplishment of one’s goals. The attainment of wealth, position, honors or the like. A performance or achievement that is marked by success, as by the attainment of honors. A person or thing that has had success, as measured by attainment of goals, wealth etc. Obsolete.

So as I repeat this definition a few times I allow words such as favorable, prosperous, endeavors, accomplishment, wealth, honors, marked…these words are good words. They’re words that I wish to be tagged to my name.

Nakoreya – favorable

Nakoreya – prosperous

Nakoreya – accomplished

Nakoreya – wealthy.

I love the definition of success, I claim success over any and everything that I put my mind too. Whether it’s meeting a deadline for a book, completing a business plan for a new venture or even the simplest of things such as trying a new recipe on Pinterest.

I’m one of those girls that want to be successful.

So in doing so, in yearning for success, in climbing the ladder of life…what will I give up? What will I remove, discard, drop, delete just to be successful? Whatever is blocking my growth.

I believe that being stagnant is a disease.

Remaining in the same place for months without any sign of shifting into new territory, creating new goals, paving new ways to grow…I refuse to be stuck.

When chasing after success, one must be willing to do whatever it takes and in doing whatever it takes, one must sacrifice. Unfortunately, we’re living in the age of social media and technology; this is a good and bad thing. It’s a good thing because with the few clicks of a button, your business can be made viral depending on well you market and promote. The bad thing is we spend too much time on social media and not enough time building our brand and businesses.

Below are the top three things I have sacrificed on my journey of becoming a successful woman, No, I’m not there yet but I can proudly say that  in less than a year I made one hundred thousand dollars by living out my dreams as a writer. I wrote seventeen books in eleven monthsand climbed the Bestseller’s chart quite a few times. Books written by me along with my blog, The Passport gained national press just a few months ago and it was then that I realized…I’m well on my way.

I’ll be honest it took me quite a while to figure out what I sacrificed and what I am currently sacrificing and when I first spoke with Oprah I assumed the blog would be a breeze like anything I write, but this took me a while to put together, hopefully you enjoy!

The blood, sweat and tears are paying off, the fruits of my labor are being produced. My time is not being wasted because my days are productive instead of just being busy, it’s such a big difference.

1. HEARING

Yes, you read that correctly you should sacrifice your hearing. One thing I learned on this journey to becoming a successful woman is that you can’t be open to hearing what others have to say. Let them talk and you tune them out. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but when it’s your vision, your passion, your dream, sometimes one person’s comment or opinion about your business, brand, book, product, idea…can ruin you.  Overtime, you’ll began to think, “Oh no they’re right, what am I thinking? I’m only eighteen, I’m only twenty-three or I’m thirty-six years old I’m too old to open a boutique, I’m too old to blog…why am I wasting my time”

So if you ignore them and tune them out, close your ears and trust your gut that’s telling you, “YOU WILL WIN” “ YOU WILL BE SUCCESFUL” “YOU ARE A CONQUEROR” and if you repeat that daily, make it an affirmation,  what others say to you can never affect you

2. FREE TIME

I don’t even know what free time is anymore. For the first time in a year I took a week off to relax and catch up with family and friends and by Thursday I was like, “Okay where is my laptop?” LOL. When you’re focused and your eyes are on the prize  there is no “free time” you don’t have time to chill and kick back. Every second of the  day should be devoted to building your brand/business. I went to hear Jesse Itzler (GOOGLE HIM) the other night and his speech left me speechless. He shared so many jewels of wisdom with the room, but the one thing that stuck with me days later was that, “You are a reflection of your business” so if you feel like you’re becoming weary in well doing then yes, take you some time and get it together. Go to the spa, travel, go out on the town, but don’t get comfortable with doing that. Sacrificing free-time is one of the most important things you take away while on the journey of becoming a successful woman, because you’re telling yourself, “My future is more important than my present”

3. LOVE

Many won’t agree with me here and that’s okay, because I’m human and I pride myself on keeping it real so in doing so, I’ll be the first to admit that love has held me back but it will not happen again. I’m pretty bitter right now from a recent break-up but that’s me being transparent and in my honesty hopefully others can learn from my mistakes. Where I am now in life, isn’t a really place and that’s okay because I know I won’t be here forever. I believe that better is coming. However until then, love kept me from doing a lot of things, traveling, going to certain events. It wasn’t him it was me not wanting to be away from him so long and when I did go to Atlanta for three months to network it was a great move for my career but I returned to our home and figured out that he had rekindled an old flame in my absence.  So, right now love is last on my list. If you know that you’re in a solid relationship and your spouse supports you then discard this.

The three things that I am sacrificing might not be match your path, these are what I’ve sacrificed. I challenge you to meditate and take some time for yourself and evaluate where you are currently and where you desire to be. Do whatever it takes, a year from now you will thank yourself from stepping out on faith.

I measure success by how I’m able to give back and connect to others, mainly women. If we are all winning then I’m successful.

God Bless.

Nakoreya “Nako” Roberson is a native of Atlanta, Georgia and studied mass communications, political science and Spanish at Jackson State University. An accomplished author of 11 books, she signed her publishing deal in December 2014, and her first book was available on Amazon, one month later. To date, she has published all of her books in 10 months with a few additional releases planned before the end of 2015. Her first release, “The Connect’s Wife” was in the top 100, and #1 in categories such as African American Romance, Urban Fiction, and African American Fiction. At the tender age of twenty-two, Nako has plans of making her mark in the literary world through her newly-formed publishing company, NakoEXPO. She’s on the hunt to help other talented authors realize their dreams and change the world one book at a time.

xoxoNAKO

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