I'm already doing a really good job.
That is literally THE HARDEST lesson for an overachiever to learn… And it’s true.
I am already succeeding.
I am a good mom. I am a good partner. I am a good business owner. I am doing the things… and I am doing them well.
The other day, my therapist said something that blew my mind. (I am in therapy, everyone needs therapy. It’s amazing.) We were talking about how much I have, and have not, accomplished this year. What I told her was that I was feeling excited. I was half-way into Q1 after TOTALLY revamping my business and how I did work and… I had basically had no new clients come in. At all. Since the start of the year. But… I was excited? And feeling good?
Which was super weird because half-way into Q1 is just about the exact time when I would historically start to panic about money and not getting enough client-work in the pipeline and TOTALLY abandon any growth or progress I’d made on myself and my business up to that point…
But… I was feeling positive. And accomplished. And I still am.
Yeah, the work is slow to come in, but that’s the point. Slow is good. I raised my rates for my branding work SO that I could be more intentional about who I work with and how I do that work. Deep, meaningful, personal, empowering design… is not quick. Life-changing, emotionally driven brand building isn’t something that you just hop into, no questions, hit the ground running. It’s heavy and it’s hard and it’s scary… because getting to the point where you’re ready to live into your hopes and dreams in your life and your brand TOTALLY goes against the narrative that you’ve been telling yourself for years… (the “I can’t”, the “If only”, the “other people get to do that, but not me” mentality)
AND, somewhere in all that… I realized that money isn’t the point.
THAT was why I was feeling good. THAT is why I still feel like I’m succeeding, even if the pace of my work and my life is TOTALLY different now. Money doesn’t make success. Money isn’t the point… happiness is.
Happiness is why I’m here. Happiness is why I’m excited.
I get to spend time with my daughter NOT thinking about work.
I get to live into every moment, and all aspects of who I am… not just this one thing that I do for work.
I get to make time for art and share what I value with the world.
I get to feel like what I say and think matter, because they matter to me.
I’m doing the things I’ve been dreaming about for YEARS in my business and my brand and LOVING EVERY SECOND OF IT!!!
My success isn’t about money, it’s about happiness.
And boy… when that realization hit…
The moment that I realized that I wasn’t feeling good because something was broken in me, but because something was finally fixed… that felt incredible. It hit me like a cool gust of wind on a hot day. Refreshing. Beautiful.
So here’s the question…
How do you define success? What are you actually working for?
Because I’d be willing to bet it’s bigger than money.
Mine is happiness. And, today, I am happy. And that’s enough.