Are You Successful?
I am, let me tell you why.
Why your definition of success matters more than anyone else’s
There’s a moment in everyone’s career when you realize you’ve been running hard… but you’re not entirely sure who picked the finish line.
That’s why I always start with a simple truth: success is personal. It’s not how others grade you. It’s not what a boss, a colleague, or your cousin at Christmas thinks. It’s the story you tell yourself when you look at your own goals and your own path.
Success isn’t what others see in you; it’s what you see in yourself.
Without that clarity, we end up chasing other people’s trophies.
Last week, I spent time with sports management and rehabilitation students at FIU. Great group. Sharp questions. But there was one slide that lit up the room like: Success Enablers.
These are the things that have shaped my career — the five levers that helped me move from a small town in Costa Rica to producing matches in stadiums around the world.
1. Flexibility
I started university wanting to be a newspaper columnist. My dream was to sit in a newsroom, drink terrible coffee, and argue with editors about headlines.
Life had a different script.
A chance opportunity pulled me toward television. I didn’t plan it. I didn’t expect it. But I learned early that having a vision is important, and letting life surprise you is even more important.
Broadcasting is full of detours. Many of them end up being better than the original route.
2. A Second Language
Someone at FIU asked me whether learning a language still matters now that we have all these tools (AI translators, instant captions, chatbots).
For me, learning English opened the first real door of my career.
Not because I was perfect. Far from it. My accent was thick enough to slice. But being able to communicate gave me a ticket to opportunities that didn’t exist otherwise — assignments abroad, complex events, conversations with people who would become lifelong collaborators.
A second language is not about vocabulary. It’s about access.
3. A Global Network
People assume I always had contacts around the world. Japan. Germany. South Africa. Argentina. The US.
The truth is simple: I just kept meeting people, staying curious, and following up.
And it started small.
If you’re in a small town, build a network in the next big city. Then the next one. Then another country.
A network is built like a broadcast: Connection by connection, signal by signal until the world becomes smaller and your perspective becomes bigger.
4. Hands-On Work
Theory is beautiful. Practice is unforgiving and that’s why it teaches you faster.
My career accelerated the moment I stopped waiting to be ready and stepped into real productions. Sometimes that meant printing scripts. Sometimes it meant being the last one to leave.
Every hour spent doing the actual work compounds.
If you want to be a camera operator, find a way to stand behind a camera before you think you’re fully prepared. If you want to be a journalist, write something for an actual newsroom even if it’s unpaid at first.
Repetition creates confidence. Confidence creates mastery. Mastery creates opportunities.
5. Teach Others
People think you need a classroom and a title to teach. You don’t.
Teaching is simply helping someone who is two steps behind you.
When you explain how you learned something — a panel, a rundown, a shoot, a technical decision — you reinforce the lesson inside yourself.
And the people around you rise with you.
In production rooms around the world, there’s always a technical director showing a newcomer how to route a signal, or a producer showing an intern how to write a segment. Those moments build cultures. They build careers.
Your Own Definition of Success
Am I 100 percent successful? Not yet and I won’t always be.
And that’s the point.
I still have goals I haven’t reached. Projects I want to build. People I want to help. And the measurement of all that is mine, not the world’s.
So I want you to ask yourself: How do I define success?
Not what your industry calls success. Not what your parents or friends or boss call success. What you call success.
And once you define it, ask yourself:
What enabled the success you already have?
What new enablers do you need for the next chapter?
Success enablers evolve. They shift as you grow. And adding new ones can open doors you don’t even know exist yet.
A Reflection for the Week
Take five quiet minutes and write down:
The success you already have (on your terms)
The enablers that helped you get here
The enablers you need next
Writing these things might sound cheesy for you, but I can guarantee you that what you put on a paper or a computer document has more impact in your life than what you just have in mind.
And if someone comes to mind who might benefit from this idea — a colleague, a student, a young producer trying to figure out their path — share this newsletter with them. One forwarded email can be a success enabler for someone else.
Bulletin board
For those who asked for more details about my course “The Global Business of Sports Productions” here you have a video with all the details. Remember that if you are a subscriber of The Ministry of Broadcasting you can get a special price in this link.