Dark Side of Success

By Thomas Hubbard.  
Published on Monday, June 3, 2013

WOW! Can you believe it’s already June? The year’s halfway complete, which means you have some serious catching up to do if you haven’t tackled those 2013 resolutions yet! Whether your success has been moderate or out-of-this-world, you might be thinking “time sure flies when you’re having fun!” But for many people, this simply isn’t the case. Head over to my post entitled Toe-to-Toe with 2013, which talks about the dark side of success and the struggles people face while striving to realize their dreams.

For the business-minded, June is the month for mid-year reviews. It’s a time when professionals assess their performance, weigh their accomplishments and disappointments, and tweak their operatives for the remainder of the year. I’m preparing several mid-year reviews, myself: One for my tech business, Hubbard Digital LLC, and a few for my smaller ventures, including this weekly blog, Monday Unleaded. Today’s post is a precursor to its assessment.

If you’ve been keeping up with the Monday Unleaded series, you’re probably thinking it has strayed from it’s original theme, focusing more on the dark side of success. You’re right.

Looking at Monday Unleaded with a critical eye, the first thing that comes to mind is that it’s not what I intended for it to be. The response has been generally favorable, and the blog has actually done a lot better than I anticipated. But the project itself has taken on a mind of its own.

Background on MondayUnleaded.com

To obtain a background on Monday Unleaded, read the first installment entitled Inauguration, as well as what I consider the “heart of the blog,” The Meaning of Success. These posts not only set the stage for most of the site’s content, but document my originally intentions.

Development for Monday Unleaded began in November 2012, shortly before my election to a small board of directors to help govern a local chamber of commerce. Hubbard Digital had increased its sales by 12% (between 2011 and 2012), and I thought it would be helpful to start a blog about money, success, and anything related. The idea was to give hardworking professionals, from all walks of life, a “boost” at the beginning of each week. I wanted to encourage readers to make the best of their situations, and to realize their own levels of success.

The dark side of success is not always failure. Sometimes its what we strive to achieve.

Needless to say, the content on Monday Unleaded does not always reflect positivity. The installments began changing around early April, coinciding with a few personal challenges I was facing at the time A series of cataclysmic events led me to resign my post as board member at the local chamber of commerce. While I attempted to remain objective, I found it challenging, if not impossible, to write about things I wasn’t experiencing myself. It was then I realized my intention was never to share generic or dictionary-styled content about success. My goal was to share myself, without being overtly personal.

This revelation was confirmed by a much-needed conversation with my mother, Rita Lorraine Hubbard. She reminded me that there really was a dark side of success, and how success, in general, isn’t always glamorous. As she puts it, Success is sometimes thunderstorms with lightning bolts in the sky. On days like this, it is probably better to just stay inside.

If you’ve ever pursued a goal, you know first-hand that success is rarely defined by what you see on television. Pop culture is an exaggeration, especially when gauging your own accomplishments. The success I’ve come to know is grimy. I’m talking “sweat in the gym, phlegm on the mat” grimy! A phenomenon only revealed to those who aggressively fight for it. In this vein, I believe Monday Unleaded captures the true spirit of success, separating it from other “inspirational” blogs out there.It chronicles the highs and lows we experience, and perhaps, appreciate in the long run.

For your own mid-year reveiws…

…I encourage you to consider the full picture of your situation. Weigh the good and bad, and take into account every challenge and obstacle you’ve encountered. Be your fiercest critic and biggest fan! Make necessary adjustments without tearing yourself down; we all have our share of detractors who will gladly do this for us!

Finally, remember that success is two-sided: A light side and dark one. Learn to manage them both. It’s exactly what I plan to do, even as I continue writing the Monday Unleaded blog. And while there will certainly be times my content isn’t the best or brightest, I will always encourage my readers to continue their fight to succeed. If this blog can help just one person, then success isn’t so sluggish after all!

Now get back to work! Six months down, and six more to go!

This is your Monday Unleaded for the week of June 2, 2013. Have a productive week!

Song of the Week

Lifetime – Maxwell

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