Think about what a successful life means to you.
Maybe it’s a nice house on the beach and a fast car in the driveway. Maybe it’s the ability to say goodbye to your demanding boss and spend more time at home with the family. Maybe it’s writing a check to pay off your parent’s mortgage.
99.9% of the investors and entrepreneurs I meet have a vision for a success “destination” that they’re working toward. We need that vision – it motivates us; it gives us something to work toward; it helps us through the challenging times.
But there are two realities about this success destination that can be challenging for investors and entrepreneurs:
Reality #1: There’s no straight line to success.
We wish there is but there isn’t. It meanders in a confused squiggle, full of digressions, distractions, detours, shortcuts, longcuts(!), failures, triumphs, and plenty of unexpected course corrections. (I’ve talked about the bumpy road to success in a previous blog post.)
Reality #2: What’s going on between your ears matters.
As we build a business in this detour-rich environment, it’s easy to get frustrated and demoralized that we haven’t reached our success destination yet. So we redouble our focus and push harder toward that goal.
These are two ever-present realities in the life of the investor and entrepreneur. But there’s a missing piece that no one talks about…
The Journey Is The Destination
We need to shift our thinking about the success destination.
The destination that we’re envisioning is glorious… but so is the journey.
Stop thinking of the journey toward success as a hardship to be tolerated or avoided.
Stop thinking of the journey toward success as the price you have to pay in order to be successful.
Stop thinking of the journey toward success as a challenge to overcome.
The most successful people will tell you that there is no success destination! Investing and business AND EVEN LIFE are a never-ending journey and the thing you’ve been envisioning as a success destination is just one stop along the way. That’s why so many successful people don’t stop building, creating, exploring, and innovating once they reach the pinnacle; that’s why so few successful people vanish from the public but instead they continue their journey.
… That’s why I live a lifestyle of my choosing with my family but still build a business that helps investors and entrepreneurs like you. I could just close up shop, sell everything, and live out the rest of my days on my butt, watching the ocean surf from a comfortable beach chair. (There’d be fewer critics if I did that.) But I don’t do that because I’ve come to realize something important: The destination is amazing but the journey can be amazing, too. And in a way, the journey is the destination.
Enjoy YOUR Journey
Don’t become the entrepreneur or investor who reaches the pinnacle of your vision of success but regrets the relationships and experiences that were lost on the way. Enjoy the journey on your way to your destination.
Here are some tips to help you enjoy the journey:
Take a moment to be thankful every day.
Tell your spouse or partner that you love them.
Stop and smell the roses.
Play with your kids.
Double-check all of your agreements and partnerships to ensure they are win-win.
Give back.
Pay it forward.
Become passionate about changing lives and building a legacy.
Do something unexpected.
Have an adventure.
Learn from hardships.
Step up to challenges because overcoming them make you better.
We hear these things frequently and they can often sound trite. But when you act on them daily, you’ll begin to realize that the success destination is only part of the picture… you can also THRIVE in the journey.
Good Luck!
