With your own ruler.
In the dictionary is says “the attainment of wealth, position, honours, or the like”
I used to measure my business / life like this. How much money have I made, what new things have I brought, do I have more clients, have I worked with bigger brands and more celebrities this year than last.
It’s exhausting. It’s a life full of pressure.
The reason I started working for myself was so I could work from home and have a dog, I could pick who I worked with and so when I had children I could be at home with them as much as I wanted.
Building Buttons over the last 6 years has given me all those things plus more. We got Milo within a year of me leaving my Event Manager job, I get to pick my staff and the suppliers I work with and I wasn’t in a position where I had to put Neive in nursery before I wanted to.
I love my work and I love the life it gives me.
The main culprit of me not feeling satisfied with my success was social media. It is pretty hard not to see what everyone else is up to and compare. It took me a while of feeling bit low to realise that if I really did want what ‘they’ had then I could probably get it. I work hard and learn fast. So, the reason I didn’t have what ‘they’ have is that I don’t want it / don’t want is bad enough, or I would have at least tried for it.
You must remember the behind the scene sacrifices that these other people have made for what they have, it won’t have happened over night and it most likely wasn’t easy to get.
Don’t get me wrong I’m not finished. I am a person of drive and I want to do more. I want to get some more staff, work with more brands, more lovely parents and of course earn more money in the next few years. And for the years after that I have big plans.
The difference is I now refuse to let the journey towards my goals mean I miss out on all the great stuff I already have and the joy to be had in every day. And I have at least 30 more years working (that is some realization!) so I really don’t need to achieve all my dreams right now.
And with that in mind I’m going to go and eat some Nutella on toast and spend some time with my daughters and husband who I can hear playing downstairs.
Ellie x
X
Thank you hun x
This really strikes a chord with me Ellie. I see people on Instagram getting thousands of followers within a year and being the latest “must follow account” and I think, hang on a minute I have been here for 8 years! Comparing ourselves to others is a killer.
At the end of the day, that is just the internet. Being “instagram famous is not the be all and end all. Being a better person and the best mum we can be should always be the goal. And it sounds like you have those goals nailed!
Thank you T, some days im totaly focused on the right stuff. Like you said the stuff that really matters and is in line with how i want my life. And then others i get pulled off track. I guess it’s a never ending job to keep self monitoring.