What does success look like to you?
We all have a different idea of what real success looks like. For some of us, it’s having lots of zeros at the end of our bank account. For others, it’s good health, a supportive family and undeniable happiness.
Whatever success looks like to you, one thing is for sure. You’ll never reach it. Not really.
Even when you achieve your old definition of success, you take the picture out of the frame and replace it with something new. Something better. You realize that your previous expectations pale in comparison to your new perception of success.
Let me let you in on a little secret (in the form of a quote from Arthur Ashe)
“Success is a journey, not a destination.”
In other words, success isn’t something, or somewhere you can reach. The journey and accomplishments along the way are what’s important.
The sad truth is that you’ve been lied to by everyone. Heck, you even lie to yourself. You’ve got this warped idea that success is out there somewhere and it’s up to you to go after it. But, it isn’t.
It’s time to shine the light on the biggest entrepreneurial lie you’ve ever heard. And, in this episode, I reveal all in a truth spilling whirlwind!
{If you want to listen to the podcast episode on this topic, click on the player at the top of the post. Alternatively you can watch the video below, or read on…}
How do you define sucess?
Let’s get some clarity on what success looks like to YOU.
Not your parents. Not your friends or colleagues.
How do you define success?
Is it being fully booked? Making a certain dollar amount? Is it working part-time hours for full-time pay? Or, maybe it’s to be famous?
Now I want you to think about who comes to mind when you think of success. Who is the one person you look at and think “Man, they’re so crazy successful! I want to be JUST like them.”
Maybe it’s a celebrity or a fellow lashpreneur you aspire to?
Whoever it is, ask yourself why you want to be like them? Are they rolling in the dough? Do they live in your dream house? Do they have the life and the freedom you want?
Once you’ve got that person in your mind and they’re sitting proudly on top of the glass pedestal you’ve put them on, shatter it.
That ‘successful’ person you admire so much is going through the same crap as the rest of us. They still have struggles, fears and insecurities. And, when you eventually reach your idea of success, you’ll still have all of those things too.
1. Real talk about reaching a new level of success
I’m at a point in my business that was once my idea of success. I’ve got financial stability to pay myself regularly, pay my staff and support my family. But, now I’ve got new stresses and problems that I never even thought about until now.
Have you heard the saying, “New Level, New Devil?”
In other words, once you reach a new level of success, you’ll face new obstacles that you didn’t anticipate before.
As you climb the ladder of success, you’ll run into new fears, limiting beliefs and emotional challenges every step of the way. If you’ve fooled yourself into thinking you can see the top of the ladder from where you’re standing now, think again. The ladder keeps growing. New steps are being added all the time, and once you take the next step, another appears as if by magic.
Reaching a certain level of professional or personal success doesn’t mean that the world stops. And, it doesn’t mean that your problems go away. You’ll still have problems at the top.
But don’t get me wrong, it’s not that success isn’t worth striving for. I just want you to prepare and not be fooled into thinking once you reach ‘success,’ it’s going to be like a magical land of happiness. It’s not.
2. Nobody ever promised it would be easy
When you reach your idea of success, you face a new challenge of deciding what you want to do next. Before I got to where I am today, I always wanted to know how I was going to make more money.
My money woes aren’t entirely gone yet. But, I’m at a stable place financially, and it’s time for me to think about what’s next? What do I really want now?
The journey to success isn’t easy. If it were easy, everybody would be doing it, and it would inherently become harder to be successful because everyone was doing it.
Yes, you should be hungry for success. However, don’t focus on it as having a final destination where you can hop off the success train and set up camp there forever. That’s not how success works. As soon as you get closer to completing one goal or reaching the level of success that you wanted, your brain will have already moved on to other shiny objects that are further down the path that you don’t have yet.
You’ll always feel like you’re not doing enough. But you are enough.
Think about it. How many of your friends or family have any clue as to what it’s like running a business? You’re unique in that you want to be the one who runs the business. You want to be in control of your income, time and schedule. And, that’s something to be proud of.
3. Enjoy the journey of who you’re becoming
You’re never going to be 100% satisfied with your life. That is, unless you shift your perspective to realize that success is never final. You’ve got to have the courage to keep going and find happiness and enjoyment in the journey process.
Chasing the dollar will burn you out and deplete you. Do what you love to do whether you were paid for it or not. The money will come. It always does, as long as you don’t throw in the towel and give up before you get the chance to become that version of you that really is successful.
If you can stop being so darn hard on yourself and start to focus on the journey entrepreneurship takes you on, you might actually start to enjoy it more.
Focus on what brings you joy, and you’ll have a way better time enforcing policies in your business.
You’ll find more fulfillment in the business and life you’re creating, and you’ll feel more empowered, and in control of the results, you’re getting for the effort and time you’re spending in your business.
I would love for you to take a screenshot of you listening to this episode and share one thing about your business that “sparks joy” for you on social media.
Be sure to tag me (@thelashpreneur) in it so I can share it too!
Have a Good One!
Tara Walsh
The Lashpreneur
