As you know, my childhood hardships took a toll on my happiness and success for many years. I have traveled nontraditional work and life paths. Some of the paths I chose did not lead me towards happiness and success, while others did. Where you are in your life right now is due to the choices you have made in the past. Every decision you make today, affects your tomorrow.

True happiness is not about being Pollyannaish with excessive or naïve optimism. It is about feeling content with who you and where you're going. True success is not about wealth or status. It is about achieving what you uniquely value and need most from your work and life. For me, even though I have not fully reached my financial or professional goals yet, I have overcome a lot and evolved into a healthy and serving person. That is my definition success, which led me to happiness. How do you define success? What is your recipe for happiness and success? However you define success, there are traits successful people have in common.

The 7 Ingredients Successful People Demonstrate:

1. They take responsibility for themselves and their actions.

2. They surround themselves with healthy, positive people.

3. They never say "why me" or wallow in the victim role.

4. They know how to solve problems and reach out to others.

5. They assess/read people and situations accurately.

6. They have their own vision, mission and set realistic goals.

7. They know when it is time to let go.

If your fears are holding you back from success, watch me overcome my fear of eating raw oysters. It just might give you that shot of courage you need! Cheers to YOU!