Hey Reader! 👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻

We are fully into Q2 of 2024, and I hope you’re having success at making progress on your goals for the year. I’m doing great in most areas, but there are a couple of areas where I need to put some attention and focus.

Knowing where to focus your attention is critical to success in our world, which is why I’m sharing thoughts on the importance of figuring out what you truly want. If you aren’t clear about what you want and what the trade-offs are to getting it, you’re not going to get anywhere – except frustrated.

Instead, figure out what you want your career and life to look like. Then you can start shaping it to look that way.

Let’s go!! 💪🏻

Tim

Do you even know what success looks like?

Are you successful?

For most people, that is a challenging question to answer. There are a few reasons for that:

few people take the time to deeply reflect on what they want, instead picking the “defaults” that happen to present themselves
success is personal; what you want likely differs from what others want. We all have different interests and aims.
life is full of trade-offs. Success in one domain of life may lead to dissatisfaction in another aspect of life.

If you don’t know what success looks like for you, you can easily end up chasing the wrong things. I learned this the hard way, which is why I’m sharing this idea with you; I’m hoping you might be able to learn from my experience and avoid some pain.

In my case, I had a lot of success happening in my career. I had an influential role and was driving meaningful change in a challenging environment. It was tough work, but I enjoyed earning my reputation as being someone that could get hard stuff done. It was great for the ego.

But – it was stressful. I was so focused on work that I neglected other aspects of my life that were important to me. I wasn’t taking care of my body, mind, or soul – and it eventually broke me.

I don’t know many people that would call that successful. But I also know that an experience like that is all-too common.

Your life is an amalgamation of various domains – finance, career, recreation, romance, health & well-being, family & friends, and personal growth. Success in one of these domains, such as taking on a demanding job, may lead to prosperity in your career and finances, but it could potentially be detrimental to your family life or your health (like in my case).

That’s why it is so important to explore what success means to you, across all of those domains of your life. You need to take the full spectrum of your life into consideration when choosing what to do. After all, you’re the one who needs to live all of these aspects of your life, so you should invest the time and effort in understanding what you want in each of these domains.

When you’re clear on what you want, you can then develop strategies and plans to move you closer towards those goals. Too often, people just pick random goals to focus on without considering what the impacts will be on their overall life, across all domains. That is why so many people don’t achieve their goals; they aren’t willing to make the trade-offs that exist to accomplish them. Hence the need for clarity across all of these life aspects.

Think about what you want in each domain. If it seems daunting, try working backwards from an “anti-vision”. What are the things you want to avoid? The inverse of that is what you want more of.

Looking for some inspiration? I’ll share a snippet of what’s important to me in a few of these domains; maybe some will resonate with you or guide you towards what you might want.

Business & Career

having a sense of autonomy and the ability to do my work in a manner that suits me
not feeling overwhelmed with the amount of work to be done
feeling organized and on top of my tasks
connected to the team and the challenges; clear understanding of what is going on
knowing that I’m making things better for people, that people appreciate my contributions
having respect from my team, colleagues, and clients.
having flexibility in my hours of work
not spending too much time in unproductive meetings

Health & well-being

eating a mostly keto diet, consuming little to no processed foods
exercising > 5 times per week; yoga, hockey, walks in nature
do set of chin-ups every day
weight stable between 180-185 pounds
meditate daily

Personal Growth

reading long-form content, every day
always be working on at least one educational course; actively learning from others
seeking out connections with people who have had success in domains I’m interested in developing; you’re the product of the people you surround yourself with.
investing both money and time into activities that help me develop; joining paid communities, getting coaching, courses. Learning from others > learning the hard way.

That’s a short sample of how I define success for me in a few of the aspects of my life. I pulled those directly from a page in my Notion workspace; it is a living document that I review and update frequently. My definition of success has evolved over time, and that is a good thing. Writing it out and reviewing it frequently is the best way to gain clarity on it, because it will keep changing as both you and the world around you change.

Remember, unless you get clear about what you want, achieving it is quite unlikely. Life is too short to spend your energy chasing what society tells you to want. Instead, figure out what is important to you in each of these domains. Then when you’re facing a decision in your life or career, consider how the decision might impact these aspects of your life. That allows you to take a higher-level view of the impacts, and make a decision that best aligns with your overarching goals in life.

Clarity on what you want is a prerequisite for success. The longer you wander through life without clarity, the more lost you become. Invest in figuring out what you want.

Quotation that I have been pondering

The incredible Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung talks about the need for ‘individuation’, to learn what it is that you truly want for you life, and then to act in accordance with that yearning. That lines up perfectly with this week’s theme. One of his (many!!) quotes I love is the following:

“If the path before you is clear, you are probably on someone else’s path.”

Following the well-trodden path may be easier in the short-term, but you need to blaze your own trail to fully live. That is the most important work you have to do in this life – live it as you.

Journal Prompt

“What do I want to have more of in my life? And what do I want less of?”

Reflect on those questions and jot down what comes up for you. Then pick one response from each question and decide what you will do today to have more (or less) of that in your life.

Let me know what you decide and if you did what you promised yourself you’d do.

Call to Adventure

Some people find it overwhelming to deeply consider what they want from life. It feels too ‘existential’. I get it. But trust me, it can be fun. And knowing what you want is the first step towards getting it.

I’ve helped others shape their careers into something that makes work feel worthwhile again.

Need help? I’m here for you. Book a call today and let’s start building a work life where you don’t need to count down the days until the weekend.

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