We live in a world overflowing with definitions of success.
Titles, accomplishments, income levels, calendars filled to the edges. Success, we’re told, is about doing more, achieving more, and constantly striving for the next milestone.

For a while, this works. It gets us moving. It earns recognition. But eventually, many leaders discover that this version of success carries a hidden cost. Exhaustion. Disconnection. A quiet sense of restlessness that lingers even after the goals have been reached.

Why?

Because so much of what we’ve been taught about success is built on myths — stories handed down and repeated until they became invisible truths. In reality, they are illusions that pull us out of alignment with ourselves.

Here are three of the most common myths of success — and what begins to open when we choose another path.

Myth 1: Success = Busyness and Proving

Busyness is often mistaken for progress. A calendar overflowing with meetings, commitments, and obligations can look impressive on the surface. And proving — constantly demonstrating your capability, reliability, and worth — can earn nods of approval in the short term.

But underneath, busyness is often avoidance. It keeps us too distracted to notice when we are moving in the wrong direction. And proving is never about alignment — it is about living under someone else’s gaze.

Sacred Success invites a shift:

• Spaciousness instead of frenzy.
• A clear yes instead of a desperate maybe.
• Presence over pressure.

An invitation to reflect: Where in your life are you mistaking busyness for success? What are you still trying to prove, and to whom?

Myth 2: Success = External Validation

Another myth is that success is only real when others recognize it. The applause, the promotion, the award, the numbers on a screen.

External validation can feel good in the moment — but if your definition of success depends entirely on others’ approval, you’ll never feel truly at home in yourself. Because the applause fades. The metrics shift. And the pursuit of recognition leaves you chasing something that is never stable.

I’ve experienced moments that looked like success from the outside but felt hollow on the inside. That hollowness revealed the truth: I had let others define success for me.

Sacred Success offers a different measure. It asks:

• Did I remain in alignment with my truth?
• Did I lead with presence and sovereignty?
• Did I act in a way that honors my essence?

An invitation to reflect: What measures of success are you outsourcing to external approval? What would it feel like to reclaim them as your own?

Myth 3: Success = Sacrifice

Perhaps the most ingrained myth is that success always requires sacrifice. That to achieve something meaningful, you must pay for it with your health, your joy, your relationships, or your peace.

I carried this myth for years. I thought staying later, pushing harder, and being constantly available was the price of real achievement. And yes, I achieved things that looked impressive. But the cost was steep: exhaustion, moments of disconnection from the people I love the most, and a subtle erosion of joy — all while hoping that one day the sacrifice would somehow be worth it.

But Sacred Success does not demand this kind of trade.
True success doesn’t fracture you. It roots you.

Sacred Success asks:

• How can success nourish me instead of deplete me?
• How can leadership be sustainable instead of exhausting?
• How can my path expand me, rather than cost me everything?

An invitation to reflect: Where have you accepted unnecessary sacrifice as the price of success? What would shift if success itself became a source of nourishment?

Closing Reflections

These three myths — busyness, external validation, and sacrifice — are powerful because they are so familiar. They’ve been woven into the way we think about achievement, leadership, and worth. But they are not the truth.

Sacred Success is the path beyond them. It’s success that doesn’t cost you yourself. Success that honors your nervous system, your relationships, your soul, and the world around you. Success that is not about what you do, but who you are when you do it.

So as you carry this into your own life, pause and ask yourself:

Which of these myths whispers most in my ear right now?
And what might become possible if I no longer had to live by it?

If you feel ready to step beyond these myths and root your life and leadership in Sacred Success, this is the exact path I hold inside my 1:1 Sacred Success Journey — a private 3- or 6-month coaching container. You can explore the details and apply here.

With presence,
Paula
xx