Stay true to day one you.

From the day she entered the music business, Ciara knew her mission was to inspire people and make them move. Now, more than two decades later, she still has the world dancing.

Everything she is connected to, from her successful philanthropic venture to her investments, reflects a dimension of her multifaceted personality. Even her musical collaborations with other artists aren’t based on their standing on the Billboard charts, but whether they feel right for the song.

“I love everything I'm doing, and I'm very intentional about it. Because I’m connected to it and believe in it, there’s genuine passion” she said. 

Visualize it, define it, write it, be it.

Manifestation has been a popular self-care buzzword in the last decade and for good reason. Your goals and intentions don’t mean anything unless you start taking steps to bring them to life. So how do you do it? Having a vision board of goals and desires is a powerful manifesting technique. But what makes manifesting different from wishful thinking is putting your goals into writing, visualizing every minute detail over and over again and backing it all up with deliberate actions.

Within weeks of realizing she wanted to be an entertainer, Ciara had her goal sheet and had mapped out an entire game plan. When you’re ready to map out goals, it’s okay to take time to explore facets of your personality and hone in on what makes you happy. Carving your own unique road map to success doesn’t look the same for everyone.

In our daily lives, we’re constantly bombarded with information from every source. It’s easy to do our day jobs and go home. But there is value in intentionally taking time to focus on what we really want over the long term and each day take slow steady steps to get there.

Bare your beauty marks.

Like everyone else, Ciara suffered setbacks early on in her career. She had to re-audition for labels and go through a round robin of CEOs before she was able to put some of her music out into the world. But that didn’t deter her from staying focused on her own journey, unfazed by the pressure or the temptation to emulate others.

“The obstacles you face in life are like beauty marks,” said Ciara. “They are marks of authenticity.”

In Ciara’s case, she bet on herself and turned her beauty marks into a successful entertainment venture called ‘Beauty Marks Entertainment.’

And lastly, like Ciara said, “they don’t make statues of critics.”

Stay fierce. Build a team of people who value you for who you are and leave room for you to be vulnerable. A strong support system is immensely valuable. Not just when you experience moments of self-doubt and need your cheerleaders, but also when you stand at the threshold of new opportunities.