We are constantly bombarded with articles and offers from people who are offering ‘six figure sales techniques’ and ‘5 steps to success’ or ‘how to reach your goals in 60 days’. It can be overwhelming and exhausting just thinking about these topics.
I want you to know that you don’t have to do it all, and you don’t need to do it all. You don’t have to be the biggest, the brightest, the shiniest or the best to be considered successful. You don’t have to be continually striving, trying to reach for the next elusive goal in life.
I want you to be kind to yourself. Please stop comparing yourself to others. Measure your success the way you want to. Success is not about making money, ‘hustling’ or having the perfect sales funnel. Success is about the way you feel – whether you feel fulfilled in what you are doing.
Recently I participated in a goal setting workshop. The kind where the organisers are the amazingly outgoing type that are full of positivity and motivation. This in itself wasn’t a problem. The issue I had was the unspoken pressure from the organisers and other participants that what you have right now is not good enough.
We all need encouragement and help to stretch our capabilities, but many of the participants were mums of young children. They were being cajoled into working harder and more efficiently to reach their goals and dreams.
The problem with this is that many mums start their own businesses to balance their business desires with family life. I am a perfect example of this. And that’s good enough for me. I don’t need late nights, more stress and pressure. But when is pushing and striving for the elusive ‘success’ too much and too detrimental to your physical and mental health?
Too many times we compare ourselves to others. Whether in real life with friends, or on social media. For the sake of your mental health stop the comparisons and look inside for your own indicators of success.
Women don’t need other women telling them how to succeed. Telling us how to make more money using Facebook ads, or by building a new website, or by implementing the latest productivity improvement will result in a huge success for us and our business, is just not healthy. We need encouragement to be the best we can be at doing whatever it is we want to do.
Please don’t compare yourself or measure your success against the image that others portray. Be happy in your achievements. Success should be a reflection on how you measure it. For some this might mean the six figure salary. For others it’s the ability to make a small amount of money whilst having a balanced perspective on life.
Be mindful of your language when you are communicating to women, and especially those in business. Know that their measure of success may not be the same as yours. They don’t need the pressure or the comparison.
They just need your love and support.
