Experiencing this feeling is exceedingly necessary for two important reasons. Firstly, it's a proven fact that you are operating most in alignment with your inner essence when you are happiest and feeling particularly successful.

Secondly, when you are personally satisfied, other people's perceptions of you change dramatically. Like it or not, we are all judged by our peers. And the people around us base their perceptions of us on our mental and emotional image of ourselves.

Some people like to believe that once others consider them successful, they will become a success. In reality, however, I have found that the inverse is more realistic. Others won't believe in you, until you believe in you.

So how can you achieve this? There’s an old proverb that goes something like this…
"I always wanted to be a somebody - but I should have been much more specific…!"
The first step to success is learning how to call on your strengths when you need them.

Your talents and skills fuel your passion and all of the positive qualities that make up the best of who you are. What can you do to magnify (in other words use) these, and become more aligned with who you really are? What will start the ball rolling?

Once you have momentum, clarifying and communicating your career objectives is the only logical step forward. You need to know where you want to go so that you can be sure you’re making progress. (By the way, you don't yet need to know how you will get there!).

This is a different strategy to the one most people follow, and that's one of the reasons it can work so well. Once you're confident and moving forward, you're ready for the third and final step, which is to start running your life like a team sport.

Very few people actually achieve this level of refinement. It’s something that I personally find very hard to do. It's a continual struggle…something that needs constant work and diligence.

At the end of the day, your team is the heartbeat behind your venture. The strength of the team determines not only your eventual level of success, but also how quickly you will achieve it. Are you operating your life as a team?

Divorce rates in most developed countries attest to the fact that few people thrive in a team. I think the fundamental reason for that lies with universities. You see, study tends to be a solo experience; cooperation amidst the ivory towers is known as cheating!

Despite the fact that the ‘real world doesn't work the same way as most college campuses, many of us have become thoroughly indoctrinated with the ‘flying solo’ work ethic to the point where very few people question it any more.

Of course, I'm not for a minute suggesting that cheating is a sound business strategy! Yes, you can build success that way, but more than a few Australian icons have demonstrated how hard it is to maintain their progress that way!

The main benefit of being part of a successful team comes back to our emotional nature. We humans act in apparently compulsive ways because we make decisions emotionally (based on our obsessions) and not intellectually (or, in other words, rationally).

Because of this we tend to deal with affects rather than causes, symptoms rather than diseases. Imagine what would happen if the medical fraternity treated chronic pain with palliatives instead of finding out what was causing it? What if car mechanics simply replaced lost oil instead of fixing the leak?!

Yet left to our own devices, we instinctively act on our emotions because it's sometimes hard to deal with them - to take the necessary time to understand what's going on beneath the surface. If you can do this, you are deserving of the term 'Legend in Your Own Lunchtime'.

Let's face facts. Coming to terms with inner turmoil, our own demons, requires great discipline and considerable intestinal fortitude. The capacity to come to grips with ourselves is an extremely rare commodity indeed. That's why your team is so beneficial.

A functioning team is a mirror that reflects your own behaviour (strengths and, yes, weaknesses). It's simply the best way I know to become aware of your unique talents and start acting rationally.

Here are some action steps you can follow to kick-start the process while you assemble your own team:

1. List, in order of importance to you, all the skills you are not currently using.
2. Check your fees relative to competitors with similar backgrounds.
3. For every skill not possessed by competitors, list the monetary amount it cost you to obtain the knowledge (the cost of books, courses, etc.). Then add that amount to your hourly rate.
4. Employ people to do the chores you don't need to do anymore.
5. Market yourself as a very well-rounded professional with a unique brand and focus.

Great people are inevitably diverse, building a network of mentors and advisors throughout the years. What you need is an honest (yet supportive) team of constructive critics who will react appropriately.

So what is unique about you? If you can build such a team, the benefits will be better quality clients who will pay you higher fees and make use of your expertise. You'll be much happier and the rewards might just find you. Again, you're a Legend!

Always remember that you can climb the ladder of success solo if you like, but good teams generally take the elevator.

To your success!