Success has such a powerful and positive connotation to it. If one makes a certain amount of money per year, they are considered to be successful, and if one gets a college degree, it will lead them to a path of success.

There are everyday patterns that are found in a society that gives a definition of what success means, when in reality- success is something that is different for everyone.

Success can be analyzed as someone's personal brand. Brands are what makes a company unique and different from others, so to make each of us unique and different from one another, we must find our personal brand, in order to have a mission and stay focused. To find your personal brand, you have to figure out what your values are- what inspires and energizes you.

Some people search their whole lives for what these items are, tangible or not, that inspire and energize them when it was right in front of them all along. There isn't a special code or key to what makes one successful, it's a process. There will be bumps in the road, there will be struggles, and that is okay.

Within these struggles, however, perseverance is an important trait to hold close, to know that there is light at the end of the tunnel. You have to be a go-getter, even on the mornings you want to hit snooze a million times, you have to go after your dreams, because they aren't going to come to you, and you have to find a positive in every circumstance, because anything that is of negative energy has no place being in your life. The journey can be fun, but sometimes it might just take a little longer to realize that the perseverance is worth it.

I like to look at this process at the perspective of the famous quote, "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass; it's about learning to dance in the rain."

We have to sometimes dance in the rain, on the hard days, to be able to soak in the sun, on the easy days. If we always wait for the storm to pass, the opportunity to find our personal brand and differences from others will also pass. We find our true selves in the storm, to be able to express our true selves in the sunshine. That is the journey. The journey of finding yourself is in the storm and expressing what you find within yourself will lead you to the ultimate destination.