This week I have decided to continue on from last weeks thought, only with a more positive spin. I talked about losing motivation, due to completing so much… but I didn’t feel happy I had completed so much like you’d expect… I felt overwhelmed, lost, directionless and doubt had started to set in. Then, just when I needed it I got the Create & Thrive newsletter delivered to my inbox. It was just the pick me up I needed. The thing that caught my eye was this post entitled ‘The Success List’ where Jess listed what success means to her. It sounded like she enjoyed the process quite a lot;
“It’s amazing how writing this list opens you up – not only to the possibilities, but also to the awesome things you already have in your life!”
Although I enjoyed reading hers, I wasn’t completely sold on writing my own… it all felt a bit narcissistic and when you think (as Jess points out early in the piece) that when you work for yourself business success and personal success are very closely related. At times it can be hard to see where one starts and the other stops. That said, it is quite a personal exercise. I mean it’s hardly shouting from the rooftops, writing it on my blog is a slightly smaller stage, but it seems just as scary and very public.
At the end of her post Jess goes on to challenge us to write our own. Never one to back down from a challenge I decided to give it shot. I was very surprised with the results!
Success Is…
…being brave enough to make the huge leap and quit my 9-5 job
…not being afraid to put myself out there, to email around, make connections, meet people. To promote not only my work, but at the end of the day myself
…being able to do my hobby, my passion, the thing I do by choice in my spare time everyday as my job
…having completed two ‘self employed tax returns’ myself
…wearing all the hats of the business process myself, from concept to shipping (and everything in between)
…learning something new everyday to make what I do easier and more efficient. If it’s going to work, and grow, I may as well work smarter not harder
…choosing my own hours
…working in my PJs if I feel like it
…having a cooked lunch on a cold day because the kitchen is right there
…going outside to have a coffee in the sun in the middle of the day, if I feel like it
…making things every day
…making things I want to wear which I am lucky enough that people also want to buy
…having more than just my husband reading my blog and my best friend commenting on my Facebook business page
…making connections with people all over the world who do the same kinds of things that I do, brought together by the power of the internet
…getting up bright and early on a Monday morning and deciding to take a stroll to the beach first thing and start work a bit later (today!)
…doing the work I want to do and doing it when I want to (not working to someone else’s schedule)
…being happy
In the future, Success will be…
…supporting my husband and I both financially, so he can follow his dream too
…being able to employ someone to do the bit’s I don’t have time for any more as things have grown bigger…
…to take this dog and pony show on the road! I’d love to buy a wee caravan and travel round NZ working as we go and I love that what I am doing I can do anywhere if we decided to move city or country
…“teaching people that they CAN live life differently and make a living following their passion” This one I copied from Jess. She has been such an inspiration to me and I hope I can pay it forward and do the same for someone else in the future
…buying a house
Oh wait, it looks like we’re already there!
Gosh, what a learning curve writing that was. Firstly I was surprised how long it took me. It took me a good 15/20 minutes staring at my computer to come up with the firs two things… When I was finished I had to go through and take out all the negatives I had included… such as “Being brave enough, or possibly stupid enough to make the huge leap and quit my 9-5 job“. Before I started writing this I was pretty sceptical. It felt a bit egotistical… maybe because I’m publishing it on the internet? When I read it over to edit it at the end I had a bit of an emotional ‘moment’. This exercise had left me feeling so lucky. I would highly recommend doing one yourself, even if you don’t want to publish it online…
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