Stumbling into Success Is Good: Having a Plan Is Better

By Colin Duncan and Celeste Duncan

Navigating the complexities of professional services careers is hard and often riddled with frustration and disappointment. No doubt the lucrative compensation is not to be ignored, and of course the distinguished opportunity to serve and lead at the highest ranks of your chosen profession. While the glimpses of what success looks like are all around, it can sometimes feel beyond the realm of imagination for someone to realize such gains for themselves. Many people stumble into successful career outcomes after humble beginnings with little or no plan. Sadly, there are large groups of talented and ambitious people who continue to struggle to align interests to opportunities that will yield their desired outcomes. These people represent a kaleidoscope of backgrounds and experiences for which there are no established criteria. This book captures my journey as an immigrant from Jamaica to the leader I am today, highlighting key principles that helped me endure many challenges and lead a successful business. Based on countless mentoring conversations I’ve had throughout my career, I know my story will resonate with many professionals who had or are having similar experiences. My hope for the reader is to be inspired, encouraged, and most importantly be able to extract tactical actions that can be applied along their journey to help them achieve their desired career aspiration.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Feb 19, 2023
• ISBN: 9781728378367

Colin Duncan

Colin Duncan is a managing director at a leading professional services firms and thrives on helping people. He is a certified public accountant who graduated from the University of Maryland. Growing up in Jamaica, he was accustomed to being told what to do. For many years after migrating to America, following that approach proved somewhat successful. To advance towards his desired career aspirations, he adapted his father’s strategy that had shifted the trajectory of his family. While not a novel idea, the strategy is not widely practiced. Colin is a Christian and is married to Essita Duncan. They have two children, Celeste and Gavin, and live in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.

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© 2023 Colin Duncan. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 02/16/2023

ISBN: 978-1-7283-7838-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-7837-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-7836-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023902204

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

The Foreword

Introduction

Humble Beginnings

Coming to America

Growing Up in Jamaica

Coming to America — The Promise Realized

Growing Up in America

The College Years

Transitioning to the Workplace

Life with My Helpmeet Begins

Game On!

We Did It!

Reflecting & Looking Ahead

To Daddy and Mommy, thanks for the inspiration

To my wife, Essita, together we inspire

To my children, Celeste and Gavin, keep inspiring

THE FOREWORD

This book was written by Colin in his attempt to give back to other people - what has taken him almost half a lifetime to learn - on how to be very successful in business! You cannot really appreciate how far a person has come in being successful without knowing where their journey started from in life. How else can you get a true measurement of one’s attainment? And this is why Colin spends two thirds of the book letting you know his personal journey from his birth to the present! Colin is declaring to anyone that if he can do it, then you can do it IF you know and practice these concepts that were revelations to him - the foundational concept being - the power of a changed mind! Colin grasped that his success in business was conditional upon his continual need to implement the power of a changed mind!

Therefore, the last third of this book is where he reveals the concepts that were life changing to him in his business routines and practices. How many of us have discovered our purpose through our pain? Our power through process? And, our strength through our stress? Do we really - I mean really realize - that we are now at this very moment good or bad, successful or a failure, because of the decisions we made in the past? And, do not forget that no decision is still a decision! But, success in business can become reality to you through the power of a changed mind! I highly recommend you read this book.

Apostle Don Meares

Evangel Cathedral

Upper Marlboro, Maryland

INTRODUCTION

There is nothing as powerful as a changed mind. Let that sink in for a moment. There is nothing as powerful as a changed mind. Why does this matter? Why start with such a statement? This profoundly changed my life about eight years ago. My pastor delivered this message on a Sunday morning, and it has made a big difference in my life. This statement made clear for me that whatever I decided to do, nothing would deter me from achieving my goal. For me, that meant I needed to change my mind in terms of how I was approaching my professional aspirations. That week, I decided I would become a partner in one of the largest professional services firms. This goal had long been my aspiration, and while I had made some progress to that end, the deep conviction that I must achieve this goal didn’t resonate until that week. There is nothing as powerful as a changed mind.

Looking back over my life, the lives of two older brothers, and of my parents, the principle or truth of having a changed mind is scattered throughout. It has been fascinating to think about my family heritage in this manner, considering the many scenarios that might have transpired because of having a changed mind. I’ve adopted this principle of having a changed mind to guide my aspirations and commitments. I am writing this book so others can learn about the insights that shaped the paths I’ve taken prior to and since that memorable Sunday morning. Most important, however, is for the reader to gain useful insights that will inform their own journey ahead.

My father was the first in our family to come to America. Prior to that, Jamaicans leaving the island for better opportunities for their families were mostly going to England. That’s the approach that my dad’s eldest brother took. No surprise, that was also the path that my mother’s older siblings took—all three of them. Why did my father, at age twenty-eight, decide to go against the grain and do something different? Why did he change his mind from what appeared to be the normal course of operations for most people he knew? Did he understand the principle of having a changed mind? Maybe he did in some realm, but not based on the circumstances of his immediate environment. So many unknowns, so many opportunities to say no, and yet he said yes.

For many years, I’ve felt led to write a book about my life’s journey that would be an inspirational and useful resource for people. As I began putting hand to keyboard, I was intrigued to see that many of the ideas that I had been applying throughout the last eight years of my career were not new concepts. The idea of having a changed mindset was most impactful for me through the lens of my pastor. However, this concept is prevalent in many self-help and professional development books available today. Whether or not you see life through the lens of a Christian, the principle of having a changed mindset is of critical importance to achieving your career destination and shifting the trajectory of your life and those of your family.

My dad shifted the course of his family’s trajectory by changing his mindset. He took a leap of faith that his skillful abilities for fixing cars would be best served if he went to America versus continuing as the foreman for a company that made mattresses in Kingston, Jamaica. As it turns out, with his limited education, my dad is in good company with many successful people who followed their dreams and adopted the principles of having a changed mind. This further supports my belief that change comes from within, and that no matter where you are on your career journey, you can pivot for better.

While he was the first in our family to migrate from Jamaica to America, my dad wasn’t the first to take the risk of pursuing another path for our family. For example, my maternal grandmother was a teacher who decided to save money to send her children to England for a better life. The principles of having a changed mindset were either pushed on my family by their ancestors or they felt led to imagine a different outcome from what they saw for their parents. Either way, they acted upon the idea they had to better themselves. For that, I am appreciative of the pioneering spirit that fueled their actions. It’s no surprise that the actions and ensuing challenges, disappointments, and hurdles were not easily overcome. My father came to America with about one hundred dollars in his mother’s old purse and some mechanic tools. He left Mommy with