Success...What does it mean to you?

Success

What does success mean to you? How do you define it?

I was watching "The View" the other day and they were discussing the meaning of success. I listened to their opinions and had tons of my own thoughts running through my head. Feeling a bit overwhelmed I decided I needed to stop thinking about the subject and just let all of these thoughts simmer in the back of my mind for awhile.

A couple of days have passed and this is what I came up with...

A few years ago a very talented friend of mine, Lisa Ritchey - owner of Cheap Therapy, sent me one of her handcrafted checkbook covers. On the cover she included the quote "Judge your success by what you had to give up to get it." At first I didn't quite get the true meaning of that saying. But, here we are 3 or 4 years later and I think I finally get it.

I have felt for years that I have a successful marriage along with a rich and fulfilling family life. But it's only been in the last year or so that I've finally gotten to the point where I believe that my business is a success. No, I'm not breaking the bank by any means, but sales are up from last year, my profits are on the rise and I have no plans in the near future to let go of this little business venture. Besides the fact that it helps us financially it also means so much to me. I'm fulfilling a dream that I had since I was a teenager.

Yet, while I do feel a bit successful, I still don't feel successful ENOUGH. Why??? Basically because I'd really like to make more money. I want to contribute MORE to my family's financial well being. But in attempting to achieve this goal I MUST keep in mind what the cost of my increased success will be.

With the busy holiday shopping season on the way I am getting myself prepared physically and mentally. In reviewing my sales patterns of the last few years I am expecting to be pretty much swamped with orders from October through mid December. While getting ready for this increase in orders I am counting on my sales dollars increasing as well. And this is what I want, right??? "Heck yeah", I say to myself.

HOWEVER...

I can't stop this one thought from ringing loudly in my head, "How will I handle this increase in orders and also be there for my family???" I certainly don't want to ignore everyone, but I have to be honest with myself...there's only so much time in the day. When I have a stack of orders sitting in front of me it can be hard to just shut the door and let things go until tomorrow...especially when many of those orders are placed on a RUSH status.

I get very nervous when I think about this subject. The bottom line is I just have to plan to work as much as I can during the day while the kids are at school. And I'll have to continue working throughout some evenings as well. But I also MUST promise myself that I won't let my obsession with completing my orders get out of hand. I know that while making more money is certainly my goal, I won't feel successful if I sacrifice my family in the process.

So after stewing on this subject for a few days I've realized that I have my own definition of success...

As far as my business is concerned success means an increase in sales and profits. BUT I can't let those bottom line numbers become more important than my family. A healthy family is much more important than a thriving business. So if I can get through the remainder of this year with increased sales and profits and also have a healthy family life then I will have had a successful year for sure.

Just my thoughts! :D

And while I'm on the subject I wanted to share a few quotes that I came across:

"It is in the small decisions you and I make every day that create our destiny." -Anthony Robbins

Every achiever I have ever met says, "My life turned around when I began to believe in me." -Robert Schuller

My mother said to me, "If you become a soldier, you'll be a general; if you become a monk, you'll end up as the Pope." Instead, I became a painter and wound up as Picasso. -Pablo Picasso

Love that last one!!

Jane