This former Olympian turned diplomat reveals why there's no cookie-cutter template for success

No stranger to altering career paths, former British diplomat, Olympic rower and now leadership consultant Catherine Bishop has forged her own path to success.

Bishop, whose list of achievements includes a silver Olympic medal and postings to Bosnia and Iraq for the UK Foreign Office, also published her book The Long Win in October 2020, a work aimed at challenging society's definitions of winning.

"We often have this desire to seek out a magic formula, some list, something that's going to tell us how to achieve perfection," Bishop told CNBC Make It. "But actually, it's for us to create what's right."

A crucial factor in determining one's own success involves taking into account the families, teams or organizations we're involved with.

"Let's avoid trying to cookie-cut and put a template onto something, and actually search to find what's right, alongside those working with us," Bishop said.

Ultimately, Bishop sums up her years' worth of experience across a gamut of industries with a message of self-determination.

"Avoid searching for magic formulas and create your own."

This is just one of the five lessons Catherine Bishop shared with CNBC. Watch the video above to learn the others.