What Does Success Look Like to You?
For me, success is when I have been of service to someone in a meaningful way. Sometimes it’s helping create a profound transformation. Other times it’s simply bringing a moment—or several moments—of joy into someone’s life.
Before I started Inner Harmony, I worked as an IT manager. I had successful projects, promotions, a wonderful staff, and opportunities to learn and grow. I felt intellectually stimulated and challenged. Yet the moments that felt most successful weren’t the promotions or accomplishments.
The real success came when someone told me that a new computer program made their life easier, or when a food-choice system we implemented brightened a patient’s day because they could choose what they wanted for their meals. Those were the moments when I felt I had truly made a difference. Those were the moments that brought joy.
As the company evolved into a more profit-driven organization, opportunities to experience that kind of heartfelt success became fewer and farther between.
There were many reasons I started my own feng shui consulting business. Partly, I was weary of the corporate world’s backstabbing, profit-grabbing ways. But I also knew, deep in my soul, that I wanted to do work that created a tangible impact on people’s lives. I wanted to help people reconnect with the joy they were craving.
Most clients didn’t call it “joy.” They came seeking career advancement, a soulmate, improved family relationships, or greater harmony in their homes. And while feng shui works through both practical and mysterious pathways, the results can be profound.
Over the years, I’ve had clients thank me for helping them land their dream job and move halfway across the world. I’ve worked with clients who went from having no dating prospects to enjoying an active social life within months. I’ve even had clients who credited me with helping them find each other and eventually marry.
Each of those outcomes was a success—not because of the achievement itself, but because of the happiness and fulfillment it brought into their lives. Their joy became my joy. And that is the sweetest kind of success.
One of my favorite feng shui success stories came from a consultation that was surprisingly simple.
A woman who had recently gone through a divorce was rebuilding her life. She had moved into a smaller home. Her furniture and treasured belongings were there, but everything had landed where it fit rather than where it belonged. The rooms felt crowded and disconnected. Furniture blocked pathways, and cherished objects sat in clusters on shelves and floors.
When she showed me around her home, she was in tears.
She told me she wanted her space to feel calm, peaceful, and uplifting. She was exhausted and overwhelmed.
As I walked through the house, I could immediately see how a few thoughtful changes could transform the energy. Better flow. More light. A sense of purpose and beauty. Honoring the belongings she loved rather than allowing them to disappear into visual chaos.
I offered to spend the next hour simply rearranging things for her, if she was comfortable with that. She was thrilled.
She needed to return to work, so she went into her home office while I quietly got to work.
I began with feng shui basics: creating command position where possible, so seating had the support of a wall behind it and a view of the room’s entrance. I arranged furniture to encourage connection and conversation. Guided by the Bagua, I hung some of her artwork and highlighted her favorite treasures on shelves where they could be appreciated.
Some items went back into moving boxes temporarily, reducing the visual clutter and allowing the room to breathe.
Then I opened the curtains and windows wide, inviting sunlight and fresh air to flow through the home.
I found a plant mister and created a simple space-clearing ritual, charging the water with prayer and intention. Holding the energy of peace in my heart, I gently misted each room.
With pillows arranged, rugs straightened, and a cozy chair staged beside the window with a cup waiting for tea, the space felt complete. I put on a soft jazz CD I found nearby and invited her to come out and see her home.
Like one of those reveals on HGTV, she stepped out of her office, stopped in her tracks, and whispered, “This is not my house.”
Her eyes moved slowly around the room.
“This is so beautiful,” she said. “This is so peaceful.”
She walked from room to room, taking it all in. Finally, she sat in the chair by the window, tears streaming down her face.
Happy tears.
In that moment, my own heart filled with joy.
That was success.
And it’s one of the many reasons I love what I do.
If you’d like to create a different feeling in your own space, it may only take a few simple adjustments to help you fall in love with your home again:
- Release—or temporarily remove—anything that doesn’t bring you an immediate sense of joy.
- Open the curtains and windows. Invite natural light and fresh air to nourish the energy of your home.
- Arrange your favorite chair so that you have a wall supporting your back and a clear view of the entrance to the room. This simple shift often creates a deeper sense of security, comfort, and peace.
For in the end, perhaps success is not measured by what we achieve, but by how much joy we help bring into the world—beginning right at home.
Join me for this all online program beginning in August!
https://luanncibik.com/event/medicine-wheel-feng-shui-certification/