May 2024. Jahorina. Proactive Conference.
I’m sitting in the hotel’s hair salon, preparing for my presentation, thoughts swirling in my head about what I’ll tell the audience. Then – like lightning – inspiration strikes. Not from some wise guide or business book, but from Draško Sikimić’s poem “Subtraction.”
“You must go and be alone, and see who you are, then forgive yourself for being what you are, and forgive yourself for not being everything you wanted to be” – Draško Sikimić
These words hit me right in the heart. Because how many times during these 20+ years of working with people have I heard the same story: “Dragana, I know I can do more. I have potential. But somehow… I’m stuck. Things aren’t bad, I can’t complain, but I feel like something’s missing. Like I’m living at half capacity.”
There, before another one of my presentations, a concept is born that will become the “Be Successful” development kit. It starts with subtraction – because if we don’t know what to free ourselves from, how can we have time for what we truly are?
But it immediately becomes clear to me that subtraction isn’t enough. There are three other operations:
- ADDITION – because first we must know who we are
- MULTIPLICATION – because networking is the key to every success
- DIVISION – because I’m a giver by nature, I know many givers, and many of us in life (one way or another) end up being losers – and that shouldn’t and doesn’t have to be the case
And right from that silence of the in-between space, from thousands of such conversations, from inspiration caught in the most unexpected moment, something I’ve been carrying inside for a long time is born.
“Is This All?” – The Question Nobody Asks Out Loud
The other day I was sitting in a café watching people around me. A businesswoman nervously checking her watch while simultaneously talking on the phone and typing an email. A young entrepreneur with dark circles under his eyes, looking for energy in his third espresso for the rest of the day. A couple sitting across from each other, but both looking at their phones instead of talking.
Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
I’ve been working with people for twenty years, from startups to corporate leaders, and I always hear the same question that nobody says out loud: “Is this all?”
Successful, accomplished professionals whose CVs shine with impressive positions and projects, yet I see emptiness in their eyes that screams: “I have everything I thought I needed – but I feel like I have nothing.”
This deep discord between external success and internal unrest isn’t accidental. It’s the inevitable consequence of the greatest delusion of our time: the belief that professional and private life are two separate realities that function according to different rules.
Business isn’t separate from life – it’s its most dynamic expression.
Being Sustainably Successful – A System That Returns Us to Ourselves
This development kit isn’t designed and written as a book, but as a map plus territory, knowledge plus action. The kit consists of two books with accompanying workbooks:
- “Be Successful in Life” – lays the foundation through understanding and developing personal strengths, organizing personal relationships
- “Be Successful in Business” – transfers these principles to a business context
My development kit differs from most content for business and personal growth in one important way: it doesn’t treat you as a divided person. It doesn’t separate “business you” from “private you,” but guides you through an integrated, holistic approach to sustainable success using the same tools, same techniques, and same knowledge for success in both (equally important) aspects of life.
The four basic mathematical operations are a model for complete existence. When you apply them to your reality, unexpected changes happen:
- Financial stress decreases because you clearly recognize your “enough number”
- Energy increases because you no longer waste resources on activities that don’t fulfill you
- Relationships become deeper because you are authentically present
- Results naturally multiply without resistance because you work in accordance with your essence
There’s no healthy business without a healthy individual. There’s no healthy society without healthy businesses.
Four Operations That Change Everything
Through the kit, I guide you through four basic mathematical operations of life:
ADDITION – Who are we when we remove all masks? In a world that constantly demands we be more and better, I return you to the essential question. Through the FACTA approach and VENoVe coordinate system (Values, Expertise, Money in optimal amount, Time), we discover your unique combination of strengths. Because research shows that the average professional makes 60% of their decisions based on others’ expectations, not personal values. What a sad, lonely, and wasted life that is. A non-life.
SUBTRACTION – The most powerful operation everyone runs from. As Michelangelo said, “The sculpture already exists in the stone, I just subtract the excess.” That’s the essence of transformation – nothing is missing from us, we’re just buried under so much of what we (no longer) are.
MULTIPLICATION – Small steps that create big changes. The most widespread delusion is that results come through heroic efforts. The truth is different: sustainable success comes through smart multiplication of small, consistent steps and synergy with the right people. I offer you my experiences on how to multiply results, knowledge, and network with people who make everything good in you the best.
DIVISION – The paradoxical path from giving to abundance. Adam Grant showed that the most successful business people are among “givers,” but there’s a trap! The difference between successful and unsuccessful givers? The wisdom of giving through what I call the “circle of light” – recognizing where our giving creates the greatest value. I’ve drawn both the “pyramid of giving” and “formula of smart giving” so we give where we should, where it does us good too, and where what we give will do the greatest good for everyone/everything.
What You WON’T Find in This Kit
To be clear, right from the start, the development kit doesn’t provide:
- Quick solutions for complex life challenges
- Motivational headlines that “pump you up” short-term
- Something you can read passively while progress happens by itself (though when you master everything from the kit, exactly that happens)
The journey through the development kit I wrote for you is serious work on yourself that requires time and dedication. It’s a practical guide for action through concrete exercises, a system that demands consistency and honesty with yourself – a transformation journey that you do yourself, alone, for yourself and as much as you love yourself.
Why Now?
You might wonder why I’m publishing the kit right now. Because I can no longer stay silent.
Every day, I see talented, capable people settling for half-lives. I see businesses that could change the world, but instead just “survive.” I see how we divide life into “business” and “private” parts, as if we’re machines that turn on and off.
Success is within you. It’s not outside you. No one can take it away from you and no one can give it to you.
An Invitation to the Journey
This development kit isn’t for everyone. If you’re looking for quick solutions, it will skip you. If you think reading is enough, it will disappoint you. If you don’t currently have at least 20 minutes a day for self-work, it will postpone you.
But if you recognize yourself in those words about “getting stuck”… If you feel you can do more… If you’re tired of half-living… maybe this pocket mentor will be a worthy companion.
Who will take the first step, if not you?
Who will take responsibility for your life, if not you?
And when will you take that step, if not now?
I invite you to join me on this developmental journey – step by step, through theory and practice, toward the life you deserve to live.
Because you deserve to be what you can be. Anything less is too little to dedicate your entire unique life to.
Welcome to this wonderful journey.
Gaga
2020
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