The plan for Draco Pro Inc is simple. Keep taking on projects that matter and growing those projects I remain involved with. For now, it is about steady growth while having the flexibility to be with my family. I have been working independently since graduation in 2011. When my kids were young, I stayed home with them, working with a few clients at any one time. Now my kids are older and still home with me, participating in an online school, and we all work together. Today can now take on more clients and have a partner that enables even more, and the practice of living up to my definition of success has changed many times. This is what success looks like to me.
This time with my kids is limited, but my desire to work with passionate professionals seems endless. Early in my career could not have rapid growth and live under the sales model of more sales better. I needed constant work that could help me exercise and develop skills. Young children take a lot of time and energy. Now, with older kids and more time, my needs and abilities have changed, but my definition of success remains that I can work on exciting projects while spending my kid’s childhood with them.
By knowing what matters to me, how I want to live, and how that way of living defines my success. I live more often in a state of success; the processes and practices I have developed for myself and my clients help me maintain success even as the needs of life and projects change.
What does success look like to you?
Have you taken the time to define what you really want?
Without this definition, every long-term plan and goal is handicapped with a moving target of what success looks like. Your definition of success sounds crazy to others; I know mine does. But this is why your version of success is yours and no others and why it is essential to define.
The first step after committing to a new project is to define what success looks like for you and that project. Defining success for a project is usually measured in facts, how much was made, who was reached, and what happened. Success for self is very different – it’s about how you feel.
The critical areas to explore that expand the breadth and depth of personal success can be found through self-exploration, which is always a deeply personal process. Only you know what you want, and only you can define it. But to help you get started, here are a few questions I have asked myself and my clients.
How do you want to live?
At what pace do you want to maintain day-to-day?
Who are you accountable to?
What is going to change in the next phase of life?
How is my Ideal self different from my realized self?
Finish these sentences:
Life is not complete without…
My weaknesses are…
I am competent in…
Money is…
My time is…