Seven lessons I’ve learned about reaching my goals in my business
Number five: we don't always have to be working towards new goals
This is my tenth year of running my business.
If I could go back and tell 23 year old me everything that was ahead to come I don’t think she’d believe me.
All of the incredible clients I’ve been privileged to walk with in their journey, that I’m able to be the breadwinner for our family, that I work very part time hours alongside motherhood and have space to take care of my health as a chronically ill human too.
Don’t get me wrong - there’s hard stuff she’d be surprised to know was coming too. How much more challenging my health was going to become, the seasons of deep burnout I would need to recover from in my business, and the fertility journey it would take to bring my son into the world too.
But back then my biggest goal was just to earn enough to be able to sustain my life and ever since I’ve just been gently growing into my next goals and desires as I go.
Here are the biggest lessons I’ve learned along the way about reaching our desires and goals in our business journey, from my own journey and walking with hundreds of clients too:
1: The really good stuff takes time
A thriving business isn’t built overnight and the next evolution of our work doesn’t happen as soon as we envision it.
Meaningful and sustainable momentum takes time, patience, and courage and one brave next step forward at a time - my willingness to be in my entrepreneurial journey for the long haul has without a doubt supported me to stay in the arena for so many years now.
2: And our goals don’t always end up looking how we first expected them too
Sometimes the thing we thought we wanted doesn’t turn out to be what we actually wanted once we get to it being our reality.
Sometimes we outgrow our past desires and goals.
And sometimes the things we think will bring fulfilment aren’t - and sometimes the most fulfilling pieces of this journey are the ones that surprise us along the way.
3: There’s a difference between the goals that truly feel aligned to us and the goals that we think will make sense to everyone else
Let me give you an example: a few years ago I walked away from the opportunity to work with a literary agent on a non-fiction book proposal, because I knew that project wasn’t aligned with what would truly light me up in my work. To some people it seems wild that I didn’t jump straight into that opportunity but one of the things that has brought me deep peace in my business journey is only being focused on the goals that truly feel aligned to me.
That’s looked like defining what enough money means to me instead of chasing more, more, more, like leaning into a gentle, quiet, and slow business because that’s the pace that honours what works best for me, and embracing maintaining what I’ve already built instead of always chasing more growth and milestones just because that’s what so many others around me are energised by.
4: Slow and steady wins the race is a cliche for a reason
Like I said, the really good stuff takes time. And the path isn’t always linear - sometimes it can feel like we take ten steps forward only to take another five back.
Slow and steady is the only reason I’m still here a decade later and the only way I’ve been able to sustain the courage and devotion my business has asked of me whilst also honouring my needs as a human being along the way too.
It’s okay to go at whatever pace you need to go at: the only race you’re running (or, like me, very gently walking) is your own.
5: Also: we don’t always have to be working towards new goals
What’s the point of having a meaningful goal to work towards if we’re just going to chase the next thing once we make it our reality?
It’s okay to choose to breathe in maintenance mode for a while, to enjoy what you’ve built, to soak up your desires becoming your reality, to pour into your business as it exists right now instead of feeling pressure to always be chasing the next goal.
6: Because we also have to learn how to enjoy what we’ve already built
I’m not in business to just chase shiny new milestones. I’ve chosen the path of entrepreneurship so that I can do meaningful work with awesome humans, provide for my family, and live and work at a pace that works best for me too.
If we don’t learn to enjoy what we’ve already built, especially once we’ve reached goals that past us only once dreamed of, we’ll never truly be satisfied and always just be stuck chasing the next thing.
I always just trust that new desires and goals will reveal themselves to me when the time is right, when my intuition is ready to tap into them, and when it serves me to work towards them too.
7: And so much of the work we have to do is to believe that we are worthy and capable of our desires and goals too
This is so much of the work I do with my clients and the awesome humans inside my group program: holding space for their courage and self-belief that their desires and goals are possible for them and that they are worthy of them becoming their reality too.
Alongside an intentional and sustainable plan to work towards making our goals our reality, we also have to give ourselves permission to want what we want and to root for ourselves every step of the way too.
And just in case you need the reminder: you are not a failure if you’re not yet living in your desires and goals for your business.
It’s okay if it’s taking time, if the path you’re on isn’t as simple as you first hoped it would be, if it’s asking for more courage and patience than you first embarked on this path with.
And if you are living in your desires and goals? It’s okay to opt-out of more, more, more if you’re fulfilled and at peace with where you are AND it’s also okay if you’re outgrowing what you once desired and you’re ready to gently move into your next chapter too.
Whatever is true for you gets to be true for you.
Until next time,
Jen