I always imagined the path to success as linear.

Motivational posters show success as a mountain climbed or a peak reached. Personal or professional success stories are much the same. The path seems to lead only one way. Up.

I have found that success has sometimes been linear. At times it has felt like a meandering path. Other times it has felt like a game of snakes and ladders.

Or perhaps success is best described as a spiral, as I recently learned from SoundsTrue webinar host Sibyl Chavis.

On the front side of the spiral you have an idea. You are excited and happy. Things fall into place.

Then you inevitably hit the back side of the spiral. Something goes wrong. There are unknowns. You are embarrassed because you tried something, and it didn’t work.

But, it is also here, on the backside of the spiral, that you learn the lessons. You know what changes you need to make. These times will burn because things are shifting and changing. But you need to hang on because at some point you’re going to come around and hit the front side of a spiral again and things will fall into place once more. 

It is true. There will be front sides of the spiral and there will be back sides. It is going to be hard at times and it will require leaps of faith and courage.

However, understanding beforehand that paths aren’t linear makes it somewhat easier to take the leap of faith and to try new things. Disappointments will come, but so will success. More importantly, I will grow. I will figure out what works and what doesn’t.

Sometimes navigating the spiral is best managed on your own. More times a mentor or a sounding board is a better course of action.

You will know what is best for you, but we’re here to help, if you so choose.