You Are Successful Today

What if I told you that you're already wildly successful?

Not someday, not when the revenue hits, not when the recognition comes, not when somebody finally says, hey, you made it right now.

We've been conditioned to believe success is a moment, a milestone, a finish line.

But nobody rings a bell.

There's no announcement.

There's no single day when everything suddenly feels complete.

Success isn't a day.

It's a way of life.

If you're getting up and choosing to move forward, if you're building when it's hard, if you're keeping your word, if you're growing, learning, stretching, you're already on the roadmap.

Today, we are going to reframe success.

Not as a destination you're chasing, but as a standard you're living.

Because the truth is this, you don't have to wait to be successful.

You just have to choose it.

The great Mark Cuban once said, business happens over years and years.

Value is measured in the total upside of a business relationship, not by how much you squeezed out in any one deal.

And we couldn't agree more.

This is the Business Development Podcast, based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and broadcasting to the world.

You'll get expert business development advice, tips and experiences and you'll hear interviews with business owners, CEOs and business development reps. You'll get actionable advice on how to grow business.

Brought to you by Capital Business Development, capitalbd.

Ca.

Let's do it.

Welcome to the Business Development Podcast podcast.

And now your expert host, Kelly Kennedy.

Hello.

Welcome to episode 321 of the Business Development Podcast and let me start today's show by mentioning that I am currently fighting a wicked cold as we head into the final months of our lovely Canadian winters.

And I appreciate all of your understanding.

If I sound a little bit off today, my apologies people, but the show must go on.

We had another really crazy water situation happen last night in our house, guys, and I want to tell you all about it.

It seems like so many of my homeowner challenges seem to involve water.

Not loving that, but can deal with it a lot of the time.

We woke up this morning to a puddle of water coming out from under our fridge and the source is going to surprise you.

I had actually cleaned it up previously in the middle of the night.

I shit you not guys.

Last night, probably around midnight, I went downstairs because Jet wanted water and didn't turn on any lights and stepped in a big puddle of water and thought to myself, damn it, my kids have like dropped ice on the ground or spilled water and didn't clean it up.

And not uncommon, not unusual, thought nothing of it, wiped it up and went back to bed.

But when I woke up this morning, I heard Shelby say, oh, no, there's a puddle of water here by the fridge.

And then my sons came up and was like, hey, there's like water all by the fridge.

And I got up, like, shot out of bed.

Shot out of bed.

As somebody who realizes this problem might not have been a puddle of spilled water and went downstairs, and sure enough, there was a massive puddle of water coming out from under our fridge.

After some investigation pulling the fridge out and realizing that it has something to do with the water line that is going to our fridge, I track down the water line, I shut off the water, and we pull out a panel from underneath the cupboard to try to see what the heck is going on.

And oh, my gosh, guys, the problem was not just leaking water.

We have mice in our kitchen.

Ah, so.

So, yeah, we had a mouse literally chew through the water line trying to get from our fridge to its nice little hiding place underneath our cupboards.

So that was great.

So one thing after another, we are going to deal with it.

But another water problem.

But trust me, it is absolutely going to lead into what we are talking about today.

And while that was definitely unfortunate, we do have some incredible news to give to you all.

Thunder Bay Hydraulics and Atlas Elite Lifts out of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, have chosen to get behind our show.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, guys.

That is absolutely incredible.

They have chosen to support our mission to educate and inspire leaders from around the world.

And I want to give a gigantic shout out to the president of those companies, Jamie Crozier.

In case you missed it, he was recently a guest on the business development podcast.

And of course, I want to give a shout out to our title sponsors and longtime sponsors of our show, Hyper V Technologies.

And of course, the President, Mr. Colin harms himself for two full years of support of this show.

This show is possible thanks to the support of sponsors like HyperVac, like Thunder Bay Hydraulics and Atlas Lifts, and we appreciate them greatly.

From the bottom of my heart, both of you, thank you so much.

And 2026 is shaping up to be a really epic year for this show.

Today.

I wanted to spend some time talking all about the roadmap of success and what is success.

See, success is something that many of us are chasing, me included, something that can feel very hard to attain.

And my hope today is to demystify it a little bit, demystify success and help you Realize that you are already quite successful, probably a lot more successful than you think.

And so let's just get into it.

What is success anyways?

What the heck is it?

We can't really be successful until we define what it really is, can we?

Now, according to the Cambridge Dictionary, success is defined as the achieving of the results that we wanted or hoped for or something that achieves positive results.

You can have two different types of successes.

The reality is that we all want to be successful.

For some, that's wealth.

For some, that's family.

And for some, it's fame.

But what does that even mean?

How do we even know you can be all of these things?

Wealthy, have a great family, be famous and still not feel successful?

See, here's the thing nobody tells you, nobody's out there ringing a bell.

Confetti does not fall from the ceiling.

And there is no universal you made it notification.

And even if you hit your target, the money, the big house, the fame, you still won't necessarily be done.

See, most of the time you're not done because the goal post just moves to something greater.

That is the trap of success.

See, we have been conditioned to believe that it's simply a moment when in reality, success is simply a daily pattern.

Success is something you choose to do every single day.

It's waking up and doing what you said you would do.

It's handling pressure better than you used to.

It's building relationships that truly matter.

It's becoming someone more capable than you were yesterday.

If success was just a single day, most high performers would retire the day after they hit it, right?

You're successful, why even bother?

Keep going, you're done.

See, but that's not what happens.

Successful people keep going.

They don't tend to quit.

See, because success is not just a day.

Success is not just a day in your life.

It's a way of life.

And the great thing about that is that you don't have to wait.

You get to choose to be successful today.

You get to choose what success means to you.

You get to define it.

You don't have to wait for the world to define it for you.

And that is absolutely incredible.

You get to choose to be successful today.

This year I got to celebrate five years of capital business development, three years and 300 plus episodes of the business development podcast, the birth of my second son, a happy and healthy family, and of course fortunate to get a signal award, making us a multi award winning show.

Many would say that based on this alone, I've made it.

I'm successful.

Right.

But nothing changed, guys.

Nothing changed.

No marching band showed up on my front door.

Yes, I have more resources, more awards, but I still work hard every single day.

I learn every day.

I write these show plans the same way I have since episode one.

I complete business development contracts to get paid, and I pay my bills as I always have.

Life is pretty much the same today as it was two or three years ago.

If you wait for a big moment to feel successful, you will be waiting forever.

Forever, guys.

See, real success comes from the recognition that.

That by simply moving forward every single day, you are already successful.

If you choose to move forward today, even one step, you are already living a life of success.

Because success is not something that you discover.

It's something you get to decide.

And the day to decide is not someday.

It's right now.

It's today.

See, I started today's show by talking about my cold, which sucks, my water challenges.

And here's the thing.

Yeah, I'm not super happy about it.

I'm not happy that I had these challenges this morning, that I'm still feeling under the weather.

You know, maybe I'm not even happy that things are not as far along as I'd always hoped.

But wait.

I am going to choose to move forward and be successful anyway.

I am going to choose to do move the needle items that make a difference in my life every single day.

See, today, success looked simply like getting rest.

Honestly, I was feeling like trash today.

Felt like getting some rest.

I went to bed last night super early, and I'm feeling a little better today.

It meant stopping that water leak.

That was absolutely a success.

And you know, I even managed to attend a couple of meetings and write and record this show for me, that is insane success, right?

It's success in a day.

And I could have chose to just go back to bed today, but I didn't.

And so the fact that I managed to get up, handle all of those challenges and get through the day, moving forward, that is success.

See, by simply moving forward and not giving up, I am successful.

And if I continue to make this decision to move forward every single day, I will live a successful life no matter what it brings.

And you will too.

So today, I challenge you to stop waiting for success to find you.

I can pretty much guarantee you that if you are listening to this show, you are already successful.

Remember, success is not a destination.

Success is a way of life.

You get to choose what success means to you.

You get to choose what success looks like to you.

And the moment you decide, you are Successful, then you are.

It's up to you.

If you wait for the world to tell you you're successful, you're going to be waiting forever.

You need to decide today what success means to you and that you are already on a successful path and and living a successful life every single day.

For those of you who want to start living successful right now, and I hope that's all of you, here are 10 powerful tips to help you live in success.

Not someday, not tomorrow, right now.

Number one, keep your word to yourself.

Self trust is the foundation of success.

Do what you say you will do even when nobody else is looking.

Maybe especially when nobody else is looking.

Number two, move forward every single day.

Listen guys, every week I write out a move the needle list every single Monday morning.

And maybe you might want to try this too.

And for those of you who don't know what a move the needle list is, it's five to 10 line items that if you do them, would massively move the needle for you personally or your business every single week.

It doesn't have to be dramatic.

Whether it's like a call, you've been putting off, a workout, you've been putting off a one page written on your new book or one uncomfortable conversation, whatever it is that momentum every time you tackle something on the move the needle list, it creates momentum.

And momentum beats intensity every single time.

So think about it this way.

What can I do today that will move the needle for me?

It's those little things that move you forward every day.

That's 365 big things every single year.

Imagine what that does for you over the course of a year, three years, five years, 10 years, you absolutely are inevitably going to be successful.

And if you are moving the needle for yourself and your business every single day.

Number three, define your scoreboard.

If you let the world define your success, you will always feel behind you will.

You can't wait for the world to tell you know what matters to you and measure that.

What is successful is up to you.

What makes you successful is up to you know what matters and measure it.

Number four, build standards, not motivation.

See, motivation always fades.

Standards remain forever successful.

People don't feel inspired every day, but they choose to operate anyways.

If you think that I felt this morning like getting up and moving forward, I did not.

I was not feeling good this morning, but I knew that I had things to do and move the needle items to tackle, a show to make, clients to help.

I had stuff to do that is my standard.

I've been doing it for years, come hell or high water, I make sure that I keep to my standards.

Remember, successful people don't feel inspired every day, but they choose to operate anyways.

And I believe that these are actually your most successful days.

The days where you don't feel like doing it, but you do it anyway.

Those are the hardest but most successful days of your life.

And if you can move forward on the hard days, for you, the sky is the limit.

Number five.

Strengthen something daily.

Whether it's your mind, your body, your skills, or your network, improvements compound very quietly.

But then one day, it becomes blatantly obvious how much improvement you have made.

Okay, Strengthen something daily.

It doesn't have to be your business.

It can be your family, it can be your mind, it can be your health, it can be your skills, your network, whatever it is.

Just make sure every day you're working on getting 1% better on something important.

Number six.

Handle hard things quickly.

Avoidance always kills momentum.

Success grows when you tackle and overcome challenges head on.

Every challenge you face and overcome is a check mark in the book of success.

Number seven.

Choose growth over comfort.

Comfort feels safe, but it stalls progress.

Growth feels uncomfortable, but it builds capability.

I have never grown in the ease of my life.

Take on the hard things.

You will be grateful for the lessons you learn in doing so.

Number eight.

Practice gratitude with ambition.

You can be grateful for today and hungry for tomorrow.

Okay.

You can be happy about today and still want more for tomorrow.

At the same time, you can be successful today and even more successful tomorrow.

It's not one or the other, it's both.

You can have both at the same time.

And when you can be grateful for today and excited about what's next, guess what?

That balance creates grounded confidence and makes you better at everything you take on moving forward.

Number nine.

And this might be one of the most important lessons.

Stay in the game.

Stay in the game.

No matter what you're building.

Whether you're an entrepreneur, a leader, an executive, you're going to have hard times.

Most people don't fail.

Hear me out on this.

Most people don't fail.

They quit.

They quit.

And if you choose to show up today, you are still succeeding.

Period.

Period.

As long as you're in it, as long as you're working at it, moving forward, you are succeeding.

Number 10.

Align action with identity.

Ask yourself, what would the successful version of me do today?

And then do that.

Live how you want to be.

Be the person.

Be the successful person you were born to be.

And don't wait.

Do it today.

Success waits for nobody.

But you never needed to wait for it either.

You're already successful.

Every day you get up and choose to move forward, you add to that success.

Where you end up is completely up to you.

But don't miss the joy in today.

Don't be constantly living for tomorrow that successful version of yourself down the road.

You are successful today.

Have the courage to embrace what you have already achieved.

You are a success already and what comes next, whatever it is, is truly up to you.

I believe in you.

You absolutely got this.

And if today's message resonated with you, I would highly encourage you to check out the Catalyst Club where leaders just like you support each other's success on a daily and weekly basis.

You can learn more at kelly kennedy official.com and thank you everybody for your support over the past three years.

We would not be here without you.

Whatever success that I have achieved, I owe so much of that to you guys.

Showing up week over week, month over month and year over year.

And yes, next week I highly hope to come back without a plug nose so very much excited about that Shout outs this week.

Jamie Crozier, Colin Harms, Wayne Lee, Marshall Stern, Vajayan Swaminathan, Joel Zeff, Gary Noseworthy, Chris Friesen, Daveed Henriquez, Jory Evans, John Pelly, Noah Landau, Tyler Boyd, Sally Poinsett Nash, Julian Pistone, Sarabi Chinoy, Cassandra Toroin, Cynthia Chan, Jillian Shekar, Ron Ziekli and Susan Paseka.

Until next time, you've been listening to the Business Development Podcast and we will catch you on the flip side.

This has been the Business Development Podcast with Kelly Kennedy.

Kelly has 15 years in sales and business development experience within the Alberta oil and gas industry and founded his own business development firm in 2020.

His passion and his specialization is in customer relationship generation and business development.

The show is brought to you by Capital Business Development, your business development specialists.

For more we invite you to the website at www.capitalbd.ca.

see you next time on the Business Development Podcast.