One of the best things I ever did was 20 years ago…
And it was this: I went through an exercise which helped me create a guide post for my definition of success. But, instead of writing something aspirational and vague… what I did was…
I looked into the future. I pushed the accelerator pedal and looked at what it would mean to be successful in the present moment. If I was already successful here and now, what would my life look like?
And so, I went on and filled in the blanks for the statement:
I know I’m being successful when ______.
What I ended up with was 10 statements defining my version of success. Here’s the top three…
- I know I’m being successful when I can wake up every day and say, “What would I like to do today?"
- I know I’m being successful when my passive revenue exceeds my lifestyle needs.
- I know I’m being successful when I’m working on projects I’m excited about and doing my very best work.
As I said, there’s 10 statements in total. But these three became the guideposts for everything I did since then…
It became crystal clear to me that my time freedom is the most important value I have. And I became very guarding of that. Every project I started, every new venture I set out to do… everything was evaluated against those top three statements.
See, the truth is, building a successful and sustainable business is a long term process. So you’ve got to make sure the thing you’re doing right now, is still going to excite you 20 years from now.
See, the truth is, building a successful and sustainable business is a long term process.
In other words, instead of just trying to get more clients and grow the revenue, why not ask yourself, “What’s important to me? What am I trying to build here?”…
… and then start looking for ways to create a business around the life that you want… rather than fitting your life around your business.