Muse Magazine - August 2017

In this issue

This issue of muse explains how success is not a commodity, subject to a ferocious game of musical chairs, as the so-called ‘career ladder’ suggests. Nor will it run out while you’re doing something for the love of it. What it will do is dare you to define it, which may well reveal to you that you’ve already made it.

In contrast to the notion of a linear trajectory from objective to outcome and the adage ‘failing to plan is planning to fail’, How To Transform Your Mistakes looks at how to embrace failure and leverage errors, which are so often sheep in wolves’ clothing. In a similar twist of self-determinism, our story on luck discusses fortune as a product of skill and choice – although synchronicity does get a look-in. Perhaps the greatest predictor of success is how we manage expectations, since setting feasible targets favours motivation, perseverance and shaping others’ perceptions of how we’ve done (think client KPIs and joint bank accounts). For a communication upgrade, don’t miss the feature on harnessing the power of voice and body language. What we loved most about compiling this issue was hearing how other women define success – from escaping an arranged marriage to being a happily married CEO, to a plussize model living with multiple sclerosis, a Muslim businesswoman and a cafe owner pioneering tourism in an area devastated by loss of primary industry.