Do you feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day? Are you unhappy with your job, or your lifestyle and feel like something just has to give already? I’ve been there. I felt like I had to say yes to everything and anything, and if something messed with my schedule I would freak out. I was working from home in an attempt to spend more time with my kids, but instead I was working all the time and felt like I was getting nowhere. Enough was enough! Restarting my life was the only answer. In order to do that, I had to figure out what my definition of success was, and work from there. Here’s how I did it and how I hope you can too. What does success look like to you?
What does success look like?
After spending too many hours, days, weeks, and months trying to make everything work and failing, I knew something had to change. With a pen and paper, I started thinking about what my perfect life would look like. One of the first steps I had to take was deciding what I wanted my quality of life to be. And then, figure what success looked like for me personally, not what I’d been told success was.
To find your own definition of success, start by looking at what one of your most current perfect days looked like. Answer these questions about that specific day:
- What did the day look and feel like?
- What did your schedule look like?
- When did you wake up, workout, work, eat, or spend time with people?
- What was your work schedule? All-day or just a little bit?
Your environment
Now that you know what your current perfect day looks like, focus on your environment. If you could design your own utopia, what would it look like? This is your ideal space with no restraint. If anything were possible, what would you want? When you’re brainstorming on this idea, focus on thinking about things that provide peace and allow you to breathe. When I first did this I created an environment where I would feel important, but I didn’t think about how I’d feel if I were actually in that environment. Running a company with a huge office sounded great until I thought of all the stress and long hours it would bring me. Focusing on how that environment makes you feel is the key to finding your unique utopia.
Your emotions
The last part you need to brainstorm about are your emotions. How do you feel in your current life and how you’d like to feel in the future? When I wrote down my feelings, I came up with words like: out of breath, overwhelmed, stressed, burdened, and angry. I wanted to feel more: happy, stress-free, calm, relaxed, connected, supported, and loved. Write down how you feel and how you want to feel so you can see your purpose and where you hold value. Your purpose will come through when you think of when you feel good or happy and what you’re doing when you feel those things. Being a stay at home mom made me feel like I had a purpose, but that wasn’t my job. I didn’t make money there. Whatever it is you do that doesn’t feel like work and makes you smile, that’s part of your purpose.
Put it all together
Now that you’ve looked into your perfect days, your environment, and your feelings, try and see where they all fit together. Maybe your perfect day was spent with your children in the morning and a little work in the afternoon. If that’s so your environment probably included a space where you enjoy spending time together, like a playroom or maybe the backyard. And most importantly when you were playing or spending time with them you had overwhelming joy and happiness.
Looking into your life in these ways will help you see where you are and where you’d like to be. Don’t be afraid to dig deep and write down whatever comes to mind. This brainstorming will help you understand your current lifestyle and will give insight into areas where you may like to improve or make changes. There’s only so much time on the planet. Make sure you spend it how you want to, not how you were told it’s supposed to go.
So, get out a pen and paper and decide! What does success look like to YOU?!
Helpful Resources:
Chalene’s Courageous Confidence Club: www.courageousconfidenceclub.com
This program gives you the tools you need to build confidence in every area of your life. You are supported by a group of people who are going through the program with you and are a sounding board for decisions and opportunities. This program gets you unstuck from your current situation and teaches you the steps needed to get your life going in the direction you want!
Connect with Chalene:
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