Have you identified your goal or are you running someone else’s race towards someone else’s finish line?
If you haven’t identified where you are headed then you are never going to get there. Success will be an ever-moving target and you will find yourself perpetually exhausted and discouraged because all of your effort doesn’t seem to be paying off. If this feels familiar then keep reading.
There are a lot of different measures of success being thrown around these days especially on social media. Things like, six-figure income, lifestyle business, 4 hour work weeks, having your dream home, world travel, having a team.
Chances are, the reasons YOU (specifically) started your business in the first place probably have a lot less to do with the things listed above and a lot more to do with simple things like having more time with your kids, getting to do work that you love, getting to work from home, be able to afford the “extras” in life and having the flexibility to take a vacation when you want it.
So here’s my question:
When was the last time you clearly identified on paper what success looks like for you and articulated it out loud to a spouse or friend?
Take a moment to write down what “success” looks like for you:
- Does it include financial goals?
- Health goals?
- Work week and work hours goals?
- Creative-play goals?
- How do you want to feel when you enter and leave your office?
- What do you want your work space to be like?
- Success may even (and should often) include relational goals with your friends, spouse, or children.
- What do you want their involvement to be?
- How do you want them to feel about your work?
What’s really amazing is that everyone’s definition of success, if they’ve been honest and specific, is going to look wildly different!
Until you clearly define what success looks like for you uniquely, based on your current season of life, you will be perpetually chasing someone else’s (likely undefined) version of success – which no wonder leads to exhaustion and discouragement!
I really encourage you to take a minute and hold yourself accountable to identifying a few specific measures of success for you personally and also identifying any areas where you need to set a more clear finish line for yourself.
P.S Spoiler alert. Defining success is not a “one and done” deal. You will likely need to revisit your version of success each year to update it as your season of life and circumstances change. This is a great thing to do when you get away to plan for each new year!
P.P.S Random fact about me, I work 16 hours per week and run a 6-figure business. Are you interested in doubling your income but working less? Get my latest guide from here.
*BONUS: Follow up questions:
- How much money do I need to make each month to consider the business successful?
- How many days a week do I want to work? How many days off do I want?
- How many hours do I want to work on a work day and what do I want those hours to be?
- How much time would I like to take off each year?
- How much sleep would I like to be able to get to work at my best level?
- What kind of food do I want to fuel myself with during a work day?
- How many projects/clients do I want to take a year? Quarter? Month?
- Are there any months that I do not want to work at all?
- How do I want to feel when I enter my office? What will help me to get there?
- How do I want to feel when I leave my office and what will help to get me there?
- How do I want to feel about my business?
- How do I want my family to feel about my work/business?
- Paint a picture of what it will look like when you have “arrived” at success. Be as specific as possible.
- Share this with a close friend or spouse and get their feedback!
I absolutely love all of these questions and the reminder to redefine success each year based on our season of life. As someone who is a “late bloomer” I constantly feel behind so the definition of success feels very chaotic to me when I look outside myself. And yet I know I am here to be an example in the world of a different way of being.