by Jenise Fryatt | Featured Contributor
If you’re just beginning your journey as a new entrepreneur, getting clear on what success really means to you can help you avoid regrets later.
I speak from experience.
When I first started out I thought making a lot of money was the ticket. It was simple. Success meant happiness and money meant success.
It’s true that if you’re looking for a basic sense of well-being, the right amount of money can really help. But once you have a certain amount, studies show no real difference in happiness among people with varying amounts of income.
When I finally began earning the “big bucks” it was gratifying. But I found that money didn’t actually translate into happiness for me.
So I started to re-evaluate my life and career objectives. And when I began asking myself these questions and taking action based on the answers, I began to get closer and closer to my ultimate goal.
What makes you happy?
Maybe you enjoy spending time with family. Maybe you like to travel. Perhaps you’re looking for a more care-free life; fewer worries and the time and means to create.
All of these are important considerations.
You may find that you don’t really need a lot of money to be able to do what makes you happy. Or, you may realize that to do what you really want, you need to build a big nest egg. You could also discover that being tied to a high-paying job that requires lots of work hours would actually get in the way of your happiness.
Taking the time now to really identify what makes you happy can give you a big head-start on the road to personal success as a new entrepreneur.
Are you working on you?
We all have issues that can hinder us in our career and personal life. Whether it’s insecurity, addiction, hyper-critical self talk or something else, these issues hold us back and keep us from achieving what we want in life.
Identifying and healing our own personal wounds and triggers helps to free us.
Reflection and meditation are proven methods for doing this. Self-help books and support groups can also guide us toward more self-awareness.
Are you free?
Through journaling, meditating and self-reflection, you might uncover some of the emotional ties that keep you weighed down. But what are the other circumstances in your life that keep you from being truly free?
Are you in debt? If this is the case, becoming debt-free or severely reducing your debt may be an important step on your path to success as a new entrepreneur.
Perhaps you are struggling just to pay the bills and this is what keeps you from following your dreams. If this is the case, finding new sources of income may be in order.
Are you free to follow your dreams to another location? If not, you might want to consider an income source that doesn’t require you to live in a particular place. Can your dream business be something that lives on the Internet?
Are you helping others?
Helping others is an extremely powerful tool for any entrepreneur. It works to build your reputation and your trustworthiness. It opens doors you didn’t know existed. And the good you do always comes back to you, one way or another.
Who can you write a great recommendation for on LinkedIn? Are there two people you know who would benefit from meeting? Introduce them!
Even if all you do is retweet and share your friend’s posts on social media, do it. You’ll quickly find that helping is a habit that has far reaching beneficial effects.
Are you envisioning your dreams coming true?
Humans are just beginning to understand the power of their thoughts. Books like “The Secret” have done a lot to educate people.
But too many fail to control their thoughts, much less use envision making their dreams come true.
Spend some time journaling about what your ideal life would be like. Imagine your business or career taking off and bringing you all the success you ever wanted.
Or take a few minutes, perhaps during your meditation or just before going to sleep, to envision your life and career as you’d like it to be three years from now. This practice has worked for me countless times.
The path of the new entrepreneur isn’t an easy one. There are lots of ups and downs and almost certainly there will be days when you question your decision to embark on it.
Make sure it’s worth it all. Know what it is you truly want. Then plot your own individual path to take you there.
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Jenise Fryatt is well-known in content marketing and event marketing arenas.
As Content Marketing Strategist for Smarter Shift, she employs her knowledge on behalf of the company as well as its clients. She also served as moderator for three regular Twitter chats and founded the popular #ContentChat which focuses on topics of interest to content marketers.
As part owner in an audio visual company, Jenise has a special connection to the events industry. She’s been a regular blogger on various sites on the topics of social media and events and spent three years writing for the Cvent blog on the topic of digital marketing for events. She also co-authored two research papers for Meeting Planners International (MPI): one on The Strategic Value of Virtual Events and another on Hybrid Events.
However Jenise’s true passion is sustainable living. In addition to co-hosting The Sustainable Living Podcast, she lives on her own three acre homestead and is currently in the process of obtaining her Permaculture Design Certification.
A yoga instructor and long-time meditator, she integrates a mindful approach to all of her work and believes the key to this, and virtually every other problem, lies in cultivating a heart-centered life.
