‘Success On Your Own Terms’: Advice From Author and Entrepreneur James B. Rosseau, Sr.

Entrepreneur and author James B. Rosseau outlines how to turn passion into success in his new book, "Success on Your Own Terms: 6 Promises to Fire Up Your Passion, Ignite Your Career, and Create an Amazing Life.” Courtesy of James B. Rosseau

Success means different things to different people. Learning from the experiences of others, especially those who’ve overcome adversity, can provide valuable insights to apply to one’s own life.

In his new book, “Success on Your Own Terms: 6 Promises to Fire Up Your Passion, Ignite Your Career, and Create an Amazing Life,” author James B. Rosseau, Sr. shares his setbacks and triumphs, strategies, and lessons learned on his journey from a North Philadelphia neighborhood to a Fortune 100 boardroom.

I asked Mr. Rosseau for his advice to young people, parents, and anyone hoping to reach their idea of success. Here’s what he said.

The Epoch Times: What inspired you to write “Success on Your Own Terms: 6 Promises to Fire Up Your Passion, Ignite Your Career, and Create an Amazing Life?”

James Rosseau: I had a difficult time in my youth, finding myself without validation from my father. When he and my mother divorced, I went to live with him and my grandmother. One day in my senior year in high school, he did not come home—and he never did.

I dropped out of high school to try to pay the bills, but that was not sustainable. After high school, I went to Temple University but was booted after a day as my financial aid fell through.

Once on the road to something consistently, I found some success moving through my career and began mentoring others—particularly those with similar stories from the inner city. I began taking notes to ensure I was consistent in my advice and to try to codify my learnings. Those notes evolved to this book!

The Epoch Times: You outline six promises one is to make to oneself. It seems many people are careful to keep promises they make to others, but struggle to keep promises they make to themselves. Do you agree? Why do you think this might be?

Mr. Rosseau: I partially agree. One of the reasons I choose the word promise is that we tend to take them much more seriously than a resolution (as an example).

When promises are made to others, the context is such that we typically say it out loud to the person, “I promise I will.” We need to do the same thing for ourselves. We need to say out loud, “I promise to pursue my passion.” “I promise to perform to progress versus perfection,” and so on.

The Epoch Times: The six promises you outline are 1) embrace your passion, (2) perform to progress versus perfection, (3) promote with purpose, (4) parlay your platform, (5) put it into action, and (6) practice philanthropy. Some people struggle to identify a passion. How do you recommend they uncover that for themselves?

Mr. Rosseau: My recommendation for identifying your passion is pretty straightforward. When speaking to people, I try three sets of questions and one of them typically works.

First, think of a time in your pre-teens when you absolutely knew what you wanted to do in your life. What was that thing?

Second, you win the lottery and have an obscene amount of money. After you take the trips you want, purchase the home and vacation home you want, and provide for all of your family members the way you want to—what will you do with your time?

Third, if you zoom out for a moment and think about the things you naturally do well without a ton of effort, what are those things?

Any one of those answers typically helps a person identify or resurface their passion. In all actuality, resurfacing happens more. People typically have a sense of what it is or had a sense—but at some point, were convinced that the pursuit of that passion and earning a living must be mutually exclusive.

The Epoch Times: Often, when one determines their passion, they determine that an entrepreneurial venture is the way to pursue it. What’s the most important piece of advice you’d give someone about to start a business?

Mr. Rosseau: I suggest that you spend time in your passion without the fear of the future P&L at the start. That immediately takes the air out of it. Your passion (or purpose) journey needs time to breathe, grow, and evolve. Not unlike anything else, we don’t know what we don’t know until we do some of it.

That said, the entrepreneurial path is just one way to do it. Many organizations have entrepreneurial opportunities that allow you to grow something inside of a company with their capital. You can partner with organizations or individuals already doing that work.

Further, you can start slowly, doing it part-time. The point is to spend some time in the work and let it grow.

The Epoch Times: Parents today are navigating challenging times. How can they best guide their children towards lives of fulfillment?

Mr. Rosseau: Journey with them in the exploration of their interests while providing opportunities for them to see what is not naturally in their purview.

It is often said, “I can’t be what I can’t see.” Within their interests, help them see what is possible. As an example, if they are interested in playing a certain sport, work to help them meet a successful person in that sport, so they can hear about the journey—the peaks and valleys—and gain a perspective of what it is really like outside of social media and highlight reels.

On the opposite side of that, show them what they will not naturally see. For example, if they are in the inner city and the sports they play are basketball, football, and baseball, take them to a hockey game, a soccer match, a lacrosse match, golfing, etc.

Give them every opportunity possible to unearth their gifts and talents in the pursuit of their passion and purpose.

The Epoch Times: What motivates you to continue the work you do?

Mr. Rosseau: Purposed by God, I am a communicator here to empower others to reach their potential by creating infrastructure, systems, and processes.  I am beyond excited to have the opportunity to live in my purpose!