Earlier this year, one of my favorite people encouraged me to attend the Ohio Growth Summit. Being so early on in my business and doing everything on my own at the time, it was challenging to make and take the time to attend. However, I was convinced that it would be worth the investment and chose to go.
I arrived a little late but (thankfully) didn’t miss much of the day-long conference. It was a time investment. I even had a client crisis happen that pulled me away during one of the later sessions. However, my friend was right and I was supposed to be in attendance.
The conference was pivotal for me as a fledgling business owner because I was still working through whether I was a consultant or an entrepreneur and the overall direction of my agency. I was thinking …
- What do I want?
- How much risk do I want to take?
- What does success look like according to me?
- What are my non-negotiables?
- What are the checks and balances that will indicate I may be off course?
What Does Success Look Like?
One of the keynotes that really hit home for me was given by Heather Whaling. She talked about having ‘it all’ and what that means exactly. Her main point was if we don’t take the time to determine what ‘having it all’ means to us, individually, we may very well achieve it ‘all’ and never recognize it.
Makes sense, doesn’t it? It’s easy to lose track of the goals we so boldly set out to achieve in the beginning. Visions of world-changing and success conquering can all too easily get lost or tossed in the daily grind. Before long, we may wonder what the point of ‘it all’ is anyway and why we ever set out to pursue this path in the first place.
Chasing After Nothing
So, what are you chasing after? What does success mean to you? How will you know when you actually grab hold of it? Is there a stopping point? Is the path you are currently on leading you to your ‘all’?
These questions and the definition of ‘having it all’ are not things we can answer for each other. We have to define what ‘all’ means personally and then we have to chase it down until we’ve achieved it. I believe it is essential to my success to define and refine what success looks like for me. It’s a process. Right now, some of the aspects of my ‘all’ are:
- Freedom to choose how and with whom I do business
- The ability to feel passionate about what I do everyday
- Having the time and resources to invest in others
- Having time for fun, new experiences, and creative pursuits
- A thriving marriage
- Time to build and maintain friendships
- Time to choose health each day
- Being challenged and stimulated mentally each day
Define Your All and Go Get It
Defining your ‘all’ is just the first step. Next comes the pursuit of your defined success. How you get there is anyones guess but if you keep your definition in mind, you can experience success and a deep sense of fulfillment and joy while on the journey.
So, do you have ‘it all’? Have you defined it?
