1. Didyou knowthere isa statistical calculationtomeasure success? No,neitherdidI!
Harvard statisticianshave the formulathatgoesalittle like this,it’scalledthe ‘law of np’…your
average numberof successesisthe productof ‘n’ (numberof attemptsyoumake tosucceed) andp
(the probabilityof successoneachattempt) The value of pmay be very small and beyondyour
control,butthe value of n isunderyourcontrol. Itis simply‘if atfirstyoudon’tsucceed,tryagain’.
So whenIwas askedby LinkedIn tojoininthe #thisissuccessseries,Ireallyhadtothinkwhatit
meantto me..I googledittodeath,I readso many articles..Ispenthoursthinkingwhatitmeantto
me personally. Wasithome life?Wasitwork life?AndhadIeverachievedsuccess?Goshitreally
rattledroundmy brain,I immediatelyjumpedtomyfailures,becausethat’swhatIdo. In the end,I
had to slowmyself down,pouralarge glassof wine andput some motivationalmusiconmyspeaker
and sitand start writing.
So success…ithas happenedinmanyformsthroughoutmyyoungage of 40! I am one of the most
luckiestpeople tohave livedthe life Ihave. Ihave no richestospeakof,but I have wealth. Ihave
the wealthof a lovingfamily,the loyalistof friends,the mostinspirational peopletoworkwith(even
if theydon’trealise it!)
My workingjourneystarted20yearsago, I wasa 20 yearold petrifiedprisonofficer,startingoutina
cat B male prison…one of a verysmall amountof womenofficersatthe time. It wascertainly
interesting!Itwas alsofrightening,itwasfunny,itwas characterbuildingtosaythe veryleast!
I movedtoone of the most toughestemotional placesevertoworkin,a therapeuticprison. This
was where Ilearnedhowtobe an adult,how to value life,andhow we all impactoneach other’s
livesandwe don’tevenrealiseitmostof the time. I have walkedwithaperson,draggingthemfrom
the blackestof mindsintothe light,Ihave helda grownman as he criedand became a youngchildin
a cage again… I have witnessedthe mosthorrendousthingsIwill eversee.
But that isnot my success...Iwenttoa resettlementprisonandbecame involvedinhelpingmen
back intothe communities,makingimportantrelationshipswithexternalpartnersandhelpingmen
developskillsetstoenterthe professional worldmaybeforthe firsttime ever. Ileftthe uniform
behindandbecame a civilianworkerthere,Ihave testedboundaries,Ihave helpedmanypeople
intowork,or at leastgiventhemthe confidence totry. I have convincedthose otherwisedubiousto
give thema chance. I have gainedawards,I have held‘outstanding’gradesforthe past5 years.
Andthisis still notmysuccess…my successas I have thoughtaboutthislongand hard is….
Beingremembered…
The pingof an email,the ringof the phone or the lettersonthe office mat…those are mysuccesses.
To the menchangingtheirlives,andrememberinglittleoldme fromsome time ago,the Lisathat
was a part of theirchange. Ienjoytheirsuccessesaspart of mine andmeasure mysuccessin their
stories.
