I’ve been thinking a lot about success as the year comes to an end.
Did I succeed with my business last year? What do I want to build on in the coming year? What do I want to change, eliminate and add?
But above all, what can I celebrate and what does success mean to me?
We spend so much time planning for the next year that we sometimes forget to celebrate what we’ve already achieved.Β
And let’s face it. We’re our own harshest critics and we often focus on what we didn’t do vs. what we’ve done.
And as you celebrate, think about your own personal definition of success.
I would love for you to share and celebrate your success with us! Just leave a comment below.
And I’ll be happy to get the ball rolling.
Here’s what I’m celebrating this year:
- To me the greatest sign of success is the quality of people I attract to me. I’m so incredibly grateful that I’ve attracted such smart, focused, supportive and kind entrepreneurs who have asked me to help them build their business. I learn so much from my clients, which is amazing. And I’m especially grateful that they are there to support one another and grow together.
- Another sign of success is the quality of my programs. I’m super excited that so many people have found great success with my signature program, Package Your Passion With Ease, and that I’ve been able to turn that into an evergreen program so people can join at any time. And I’m celebrating nearly 2 years with my membership program, TALI, and many of the initial members are still with me, which is a great honor.
- Another great sign of success for me is how much leverage I build in my business. It feels wonderful to know that I’ve earned more income and am working less hard. So I can have more quality time with my family and friends.
- I’m celebrating the fact that I’ve stepped up to invest even more deeply in my business. I’m working with 2 amazing mentors and have invested in a branding/website expert to help me redo my website. I can’t wait!
- And on a personal level, this year marked my 15 year wedding anniversary (although we eloped, so I guess it’s called a marriage anniversary?), as well as the continued blossoming of my sweet boys into young men. I’m celebrating that as my oldest son approaches teenage years, he’s still able to communicate openly with us, and my younger son’s soul continue to shine with such an incredible spirit.
I’m not always the best at tooting my own horn out loud and I have to say that it felt pretty amazing to share that with you!
Now it’s your turn. What successes do you want to celebrate. Remember, this is YOUR definition of success. No one is judging or qualifying you.
I firmly believe that we’re all in this journey of entrepreneurship together. So please leave a comment below and let us celebrate with you. Thanks and a very happy New Year!
love and hugs π
Cindy
βSuccess means doing the best we can with what we have. Success is the doing, not the getting; in the trying, not the triumph. Success is a personal standard, reaching for the highest that is in us, becoming all that we can be.β ~~ Zig Ziglar
Congratulations on your amazing successes, Cindy! And on your ability to define what success means to you.
I find it VERY challenging to define what success means to me, not sure why that is, but definitely something that I will spend time pondering.
I know that part of success for me is being a good mother and partner; and another important part is to help others.
Hi Loshni – thanks for sharing that. I’m so glad this post inspired you to think about that important question. I love what you shared about being a good partner and mother – that’s so important to me too. And you’re so right – helping my clients find success is the best part of my business. Thanks Loshni and please let me know what you come up with after pondering this. If you want to discuss it on one of our group calls, that would be great too!
warm wishes,
Cindy
I’ll join in …
1. Celebrating having traveled abroad, New Zealand, to further my personal happiness, and further enable a mobile business.
2. Discovering a new approach to success (read Lean Startup book), a way to learn faster what’s working and what’s not and to trim away what is just useless (so much).
3. Hitting higher, newer income goals, always makes things easier, smoother, securer.
4. Spending more time in a state of joy in my business.
To 2014!
Way to go Kenn! I lived in Asia but never made it to New Zealand. It must have been fantastic!! Thanks for the tip on the book. I’m always interested in great books to help me learn and grow. And congratulations on your growing, joyful business!
which lean startup book did you read? Ryan Deiss?
Lean is a great book – I’ve seen you go about your biz, seems you’ve been brave to put things out and measure, nice moves. Asia is on my list – so much going on there.
The book is by Eric Reis “The Lean Startup”
(Btw, Cindy, I keep getting this notice about my post being spammy, annoying)
Thanks for sharing that Kenn. And I’ve alerted my VA about the spammy comment. I haven’t heard that from anyone else so hopefully it’s an insolated thing. Or perhaps it’s because of an outdated plugin. Way beyond my scope, but we’re looking into it. Thanks again for the heads up and the most definitely NOT spammy comment π
Hi Cindy,
Congratulations on your success. Like Loshni, being a good mother, partner, and helping others are high on my list. When I first read your post, I had a really hard time thinking about my success – focusing more on how overwhelmed I sometimes feel by all I still have to do. However, you post did get me thinking, and having thought about it, have actually managed to come up with a few things that I can really say, “Yeah – I did that!”. Over the last two years I have:
1. Completely retrained and started an entire new career
2. Completing with distinctions is definitely an indication of success to me
3. Have embarked on some of your coaching programmes, and learnt a huge amount more in addition to starting a new career
4. Have set up a whole website, which is almost complete
5. Have found a name and logo for my business
6. Have almost completed my free giveaway
7. Have managed to identify a niche – even though I think it will still need refining
8. Have made videos for my website, and am currently re-doing those
9. All these things I’ve never done before, so I guess I would say that’s pretty good!
Corina – I’m so proud of all that you’ve achieved! You’ve started a whole new business amid a very busy life – kudos to you! And remember, your niche will continue to evolve as your business does. What’s important is that you’ve made a decision (a well thought out one vs. a stab in the dark) and you’re taking action to build your business. Big hugs!
Congratulations Cindy on all that you have accomplished. You are a true inspiration. I am celebrating:
1) Having successfully dropped being a provider for health insurance which was paying very poorly and giving me more gray hairs than I’d like.
2) Creating programs and having people step up to invest in themselves (although this is still a work in progress)
3) The great support of my family and knowing I can do this. My husband, who was a bit hesitant at the start of this business transformation journey, is fully on board! Now, THAT’S something to celebrate:)
4) I’m also celebrating my adorable grandson who is now 6 months old. I hope that 2014 will bring me more freedom to spend time with him and less time in the office.
Bonnie – you’re also an inspiration and thanks for all that you’ve done to inspire your colleagues in both TALI and Package Your Passion With Ease. What I love most about your story is how you made the decision to drop the insurance companies so you could transition from a red-tape business to do the coaching work you love. And you’ve done it! You made the commitment and got the support you needed to take action and get results. I’m so darn proud of you!
First of all, Cindy, congrats on all that you’ve accomplished this year, both personally and professionally! Having had the privilege of your friendship for several years now, it’s great to see things going so well for you. Couldn’t happen to a nicer, more capable person! π
My celebrations for 2013 include:
1) Enjoying more leverage in my business as well thanks to running more live group workshops, such as my Write Your Website workshop and Write Your List-Building Freebie in a Day. It’s been wonderful to feel like I’m still providing useful services to small business owners while being able to spend more time with my family AND earn a good income.
2) I have also been enjoying not only greater success in bringing on clients but also greater satisfaction in my work by shifting my core focus from one-on-one copywriting services to offering do-it-together consulting services, which include some one-on-one time to outline the copy in question, followed by providing templates and samples to allow my clients to write the copy in THEIR voice, and finally wrapped up by an in-depth review of their work to provide the confidence that they’re on the right path. Not only do I prefer working this way, but I feel it’s better, in many cases, for business owners to write their own copy, in their own voice, but with the guidance to know that they’re sending the best, most persuasive marketing message. It feels like I finally found my “sweet spot” over this past year, and I’m ready to rock and roll my 2014! π
3) On the personal front, my husband and I learned in 2013 that we’re going to be the proud parents of a baby boy, our second child, due to arrive this May! We couldn’t be happier, and our daughter is thrilled to (finally) be a big sister. This past fall also brought our daughter’s first year at school, and I’m so grateful that the flexibility of my work allows me to be available to drop her off at school, pick her up, and not stress about trying to find daycare on snow days and sick days.
I’m so excited for you Tammi! I’ve also built this business around my family and creating more leveraged and passive income is the way to go! And a huge congratulations on the new baby.Your daughter is going to have so much fun being a big sister.
hugs to you!
Cindy