This week, we talk about measuring success and how we will know when we are successful. I share a story that has created a pivotal moment in my career. This experience has caused me to shift my priorities and will change my focus and how I plan to present and interact with my audience going forward. I feel that what I am learning on my journey can help you too, as a business owner, to feel fulfilled and find joy in your business endeavors. After all, we are all on this journey of creating a successful business, together!
My Priorities - Shifted
In this episode, My Priorities - SHifted, I share:
- I have been working hard and giving so much to my business, but wondering what I am actually getting out of my business? Lately, I suppose I have been feeling a little burnt out. I have mentioned before some of my feelings about meeting financial goals and then feeling like… this is it? Now what? WELL a few week ago, I attended a live event and had an experience that has become a pivotal moment in my career.
- I will share what I learned from Jenna Kutcher. Listen as I share some of her story and how as I business owner, I could relate so well and why it impacted me so much.
- Some of the questions Jenna asked and I discuss in this episode are: What is your measure of success? How will you know when you are successful?
- Here are a couple of reasons I share this catalyst, this ahha moment, that has caused me to shift my priorities:
- We are on this journey together. Through this podcast and what I do, you are seeing behind the scenes of growing a business. You can see how easy it is to get side tracked. We are growing and learning together and as we do our priorities shift and change.
- What does success look like for you? In your business? What are you hoping to accomplish with your business? How are you wanting to improve someones life? That right there is what is going to motivate you and push things forward. You will have that fire under you and it will make all the difference. Work is enjoyable when you can see how you are helping someone. When money becomes you objective and only objective, things go south. Your work becomes not as fulfilling as you had hoped.
My takeaways
I find great joy when I see that I am empowering others to be successful and that what I am doing is making an impact on others lives. This is where I feel fulfilled, not when I am focused on the dollar amount I am bringing in. My priorities have shifted and if what I speak about today also resonates with you, stick around and we can journey through and celebrate our business successes together!
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PAST EPISODES OF CRAFT TO CAREER
Transcriptions
welcome to the craft to Career podcast
with Elizabeth Chappell or every week we
dive into how you can turn your craft
into a successful career get ready to
have the career you’ve always dreamed of
welcome to episode 99 of the crafter
career podcast and I say 99 with
excitement because I cannot believe next
week is the 100th episode of the podcast
I don’t know in my mind that feels like
a really big hurdle and I’m very excited
about it and I have some exciting things
I will be announcing next week to
celebrate the 100th episode
so stay tuned come and join me next week
for sure for the 100th episode of The
Craft a career podcast
this week it is me I’m sharing something
this will be
it’s something that I just kind of
wanted to share with you that’s come up
recently uh
but before I dive in I wanted to just be
a friendly reminder to you
I know sometimes we think I will do this
thing I’ll do it I’ll do it I’ll do it
but we don’t we put it off and we put it
off so if you have not left a review for
the podcast and if you think oh yeah
yeah I’ll do that pause and go do it
right now because that means so much to
me and the podcast I appreciate every
single one of you who has left a review
already it really means so much it helps
me to bring great guests onto the show
it helps the podcast to live on it helps
other people to find the podcast so if
you have been meaning to go and leave a
review for The Crafty career podcast
just pause real quick go do it right now
and I will be waiting right here when
you get back
all right thank you for leaving that
review and now I’m going to jump into
just I mean this will be kind of
probably a more brief episode but
something that I did want to share
because it’s been very
um eye-opening for me
so back I think it’s episode 72
I talked about what is success to you
and I talk a bit about what it is you
know how we can evaluate and what that
looks like and when my husband was on
one of the very first episodes we were
talking about this very thing as well
and
all this time you know
I’ve been moving forward with my
business I’ve been having growth I
shared recently on Instagram like how
much I earned in I think 2020 and 2021
and the difference in my revenue and
profit and you know they grew a ton and
I asked who wants to see what I earned
in 2022 and people yeah I do and I found
myself
and even just on the podcast I’m gonna
get to the million dollar Mark and
recently just this last couple of weeks
months I’ve been saying you know
what I’m working so hard I’m giving
everything to this business I I’m
passionate about it I love it but what
is it giving back to me and feeling
burnt out a little bit
and not in a way that like I’m
complaining about my job but realizing
well I didn’t realize there was a
catalyst that helped me realize
why and if you’ve listened to some of my
past episodes you’ve heard me talk about
and I felt weird bringing it up I’ll
share it again and understand that it’s
like huh but I’m sharing it because I
feel like I had this ah moment that’s
really helped me understand so the thing
that I’m talking about
in the past I’ve mentioned
how what’s the word anti-climatic it is
when you get to these financial goals
you’ll be like man when I get to this
that’s success and then you get there
and it’s like huh
that’s it
okay well what’s next and then you know
it’s it’s really the thing that will
It’s never enough you always feel like
oh now if I get to that if I get to that
so okay so there’s that and I get it if
you are like you’ve made these financial
goals and you haven’t reached it you’d
be like oh my gosh that sounds so tone
deaf like you cannot be serious it
doesn’t matter what the financial goal
is so I’m not saying it could be a
dollar it could be whatever
my point is and I’ll share with you
first a story of how I had this aha
moment
and I’m just so grateful it was so
eye-opening for me
and really helped me reshift my
priorities and I have a feeling this is
going to be something I’m going to have
to do over and over again and just rain
it in
but this last weekend or two weekends
ago
I was joining an online event that Amy
Porterfield had she just released her
new book it’s a bestseller she did a
phenomenal job marketing that thing I
will say I kind of followed a long one
because I love Amy I’ve taken her course
um but two I want to see how she
marketed this book and like learn from
her how she’s marketing it blew me away
I I cannot begin to touch what she did
marketing wise but anyhow so I came to
this live event that she had and she
invited Jenna Kutcher and Jasmine star
to come and speak and honestly I signed
up and I was like I’m just gonna pop on
just to see how it functions
it was so good that I stayed on the
entire Saturday like driving my son
downtown Houston to basketball games I
was like hey sorry we’re not going to
listen to music we’re going to be
listening to this
um thing about business and we actually
had a really good time listening to it
together and there were prizes for
interacting so he’s holding my phone I’m
like oh this is the answer type that
into the response and we’re laughing and
just it was it was a fun bonding moment
but also on that ride downtown
Jenna Kutcher came on and started
speaking about her business when she
started and she was a photographer at
first a wedding photographer and she
earned like 50 000 a year and then she
met this big milestone she got to this
big Financial Milestone and I was like I
know it’s when she got to the million
dollar Mark she was like it’s when I hit
six figures and in my mind I was like oh
oh well I’ve gotten to that point wow
okay this is relatable like all of a
sudden I feel like that’s
attainable and relatable you know and so
that was an interesting thing for me to
be like wait why do I feel like that’s
She’s so different you know and so
far off from where I am
so that was an interesting like whoa
Elizabeth but then she said she was in
the shower using her Herbal Essence
shampoo and she was like huh so this is
it this is what it feels like to be a
six figure earner I definitely thought
I’d have nicer shampoo like I just
thought this would be way more
fulfilling whatever
and she really evaluated she stepped
back and was like I don’t know if I want
to be doing this and so she got nervous
but she approached her husband and she
was like what do you think if I go back
to earning 50 000 a year
I’m kind of tired of this you know I
just I’m not that much happier but I’m
working so much harder and she said he
she was shocked that he was like yes
please I want my wife back and she was
like wow that was such an eye-opening
moment for her
and the interesting thing is the next
year she stopped hustling and stopped
grinding and trying to just like run a
million miles an hour she scaled back
and she leaned into what she loved and
was passionate about so worked less but
worked with her heart
and the interesting thing is that next
year she got to the million dollar Mark
not wanting to not trying to actually
being okay with 50 000 a year
so again I have to be very careful when
I think of this to not be like the
secret intention of oh but but then I
really should get to that you know
my when I was listening to this we’re in
the car and I’m bawling like tears are
running down my face and my son was like
are you almost there I’m like oh yes yes
swiping the tears away
uh and it just hit me because
I just could relate I mean honestly a
couple weeks ago a week ago my husband
came in and I was chatting about work
and he was like What if because I’ve
said this myself he’s like what if you
just designed Fabric and quilt patterns
and that’s it
you just you know simplify
and so I realized for so many reasons
that I had been putting my metric of
success into the dollar value I am going
to get to the million dollar Mark I’m
gonna do this first of all it’s very
unfulfilling because it’s a it’s a
measuring stick that never
you never reach as soon as you get to
that whatever your dollar amount is
you just move that stick up again and
and it just feels not rewarding and I
don’t know why that is but it’s it’s a
very shallow metric it just is not
fulfilling
so
Jenna Kutcher was like so what is your
measure of success how will you know if
you’re successful and I was like huh I’m
just thinking in my mind I was like I
guess if my students get to the six
figure Mark and then I see people’s
responses like when I’m laughing when
I’m out in the sun when I am connected
with my family I was like oh geez
Elizabeth okay let’s try this again and
I said when I’m laughing no that was my
response I was like you know what when
I’m laughing because I had realized it
had been a while since I just had a
really good deep gut laugh you know like
just relaxed and laughing
and I was craving that just craving that
relaxation of just being present in life
and being out in nature and just you
know taking a minute to feel the breeze
feel the Sun and just be present not
think about anything else
and I was like okay well that that would
be success for me but then really just
stepping back and evaluating like why am
I doing what I’m doing
what really brings success and so my
shift and my priorities is a big one yes
I want to be financially sound I’d like
to be successful financially like be
able to pay the bills uh all of that
you’re not a successful business if
you’re in the red you know and I
actually really love the fact that I
have a team that I’m hiring people that
I’m providing an income for other people
that’s very rewarding for me My ultimate
goal though the thing that drives me
like I know I’ll be successful when
my students have success now see this
gets tricky because what does that mean
does that mean all of a sudden I’m
putting this measurement on them once
you reach this amount you’ll be
successful because that’s the very thing
I’m trying to like not focus so much on
right
so I’ve really been chatting with my
team and thinking and what does that
look like and so I’m evaluating and I’m
really excited we have an alumni retreat
this September and I hope to do it every
year and I’m trying to figure out how to
help my students make some goals of when
this happens I will feel successful
and then we are going to every year at
The Retreat celebrate the people who
have reached their goals and also I
don’t want to shy away from the fact
that it’s okay to have financial success
so I don’t know what that’s going to
look like with celebration but I do
think there are Milestones that I want
to celebrate with my students and with
my alumni and celebrate together that
don’t let it be so solitary and let us
see what is possible oh my goodness we
really can be doing x y z look at
so-and-so over here has done it and to
celebrate together
and instead of me going on Instagram and
saying look how much I earned here’s my
profit here’s my Revenue
it just I want to be pointing out my
students successes my joy will come from
seeing that I’m making an impact for
other people empowering other people to
know that they can be successful like
the the sense of accomplishment the
Courage the confidence that comes I just
you can’t get it in another way there’s
no shortcut for the kind of things that
happen to you personally when you
experience success from your own labor
you know from going through the muck
from going through
trying it and feeling like gosh that did
not work let me try this and pivot and
oh that worked my gosh this is amazing
people are liking what I’m doing this is
sticking it’s just such a rewarding
feeling and in any way that I can be a
part of facilitating that especially I
feel such passion about helping in this
particular community of creatives where
it generally feels like we can’t charge
this is something that usually people do
for a minimum
you know if we charge it all it should
be very little
um
not taking ourselves seriously not
expecting to have success not knowing
what’s available to us allowing that to
like be for the big companies
no I really feel so strongly about that
and I really want to empower and teach
people how to find that success for
themselves
so that’s been such a an aha eye-opening
moment for me and like I said
it will be a constant reevaluation
moving forward because
there are the metrics that I’ll be
keeping track of I mean yes I’ll be
looking at like how many people are
signing up for this but I have to bring
it back to because the more people that
are signing up for this
the more people will be learning how to
grow their business instead of oh that
means I’ll be earning x amount
um
and so the reason I share this yes for a
couple things one
you’re here on this journey with me I
think that’s one of the cool things
about having a podcast and being along
the journey with someone is seeing
behind the scenes how they grow their
business you know from the get-go and so
I’ve gone back a few times and shared
what things have looked like along the
way but here you are right with me in
this journey as I’m having this moment
of realization of things I’ve talked
about in the past you know episode 72
and with my husband what is success but
how easy it is to get sidetracked to
lose track of what we’re doing and why
we’re doing it and so for you as a
listener one two
to get that behind the scenes look of
you know this journey but then what does
this look like for you in your business
what are you hoping to accomplish with
your business
how are you wanting to improve
somebody’s life how do you want to make
things better for someone
because that is what’s really going to
motivate you and push you forward when
things aren’t going well if you launch
something and it’s not doing as well as
you’d liked it’s very easy to to to give
up and throw on the towel but when you
have the mindset of no no I know that
I’m here because I want to make a
difference in someone’s life I’m
offering whatever it might be and I know
that this will benefit people then you
have that fire under you to really move
forward and to not give up and to like
how can I share this differently so that
they get it
and that’s going to make a difference
both in your marketing your messaging
and in your joy
you will be able to step back and
whenever an opportunity comes or you
have an idea you can look at it in the
lens of is this going to help me
accomplish what I’m here to do
let’s just say for you know I’ll use
mine as an example is this going to help
my students have success
and if it is how can I make it so it
will have the most and if an opportunity
comes put it in that lens is this going
to help my students have success it’s so
easy it’s so easy then to say yes or no
and then it’s so easy to know what
should I share what should I be posting
on Instagram what should I be sharing in
my newsletters my students I want to be
sharing about my students and their
success and it’s just so fun it’s like
really fun because now if I get an email
or someone sends me hey I want to share
this it’s really exciting it happened
I’m like yes I am so excited for you can
I share this I want to celebrate you I
want everyone to be able to know what is
possible
and it just it changes everything it all
of a sudden work becomes enjoyable again
and not that it wasn’t you know but when
you lose sight when money becomes your
objective
things go south real fast you know
and I look at the people who I love as
you can tell Amy Porterfield and Jenna
Kutcher are high on the list I
especially admire how Jenna Kutcher is
just Unapologetic about
I my goal is to work Less in life you
know and she talked about and I I
believe our time is so precious we don’t
know how much time we have here in this
life but it’s it’s the one commodity
that we share equally among everyone
there’s no wealthy or poor when it comes
to time we all have the same amount the
only difference is how we use that time
and do I want to spend my time you know
how do I want to spend my time do I want
it to be laughing with my family I yes I
want it to be in my business but not all
of it I want to make a big impact in
people’s lives yes but I also want to be
a loving wife be a fun mom
have dinner with my family and go
outside and just enjoy you know
and so that’s why I really want to be
very conscientious about who my mentors
are
you know I’ve talked about that too who
you surround yourself with matters that
was just a few episodes ago
and it’s so true the influences that
I’ve had to unsubscribe to a few
podcasts because it was driving me down
a different path to just money and
success and what can I do to have more
and more and more that was making me
very unhappy and I feel fairly confident
that anyone who’s focusing on the money
is not going to
be as fulfilled that there just comes a
lot more purpose and joy and that that’s
why I’m here and if that’s why you’re
here you’re in the right place my goal
is to help you tap into that remind you
of that and to to do that and be that
myself
so if that is who you are if you
resonate with this or if you want to if
you aren’t there yet but you want to
then stick around you know I I am here
to help us remember our joy our passion
to put things in perspective yes we’re
here to have a business and have success
that’s what a business is right it’s to
earn money pay the bills but it is not
who we are it’s not our identity it’s
not our reason to live
it’s to help us live it’s to help enrich
our lives
so that is my takeaway my priorities
shifted I just this aha moment and like
I said I’m sure it’ll happen again and
again
um but I’m here to share with you my
journey and this was a really big
pivotal moment in my career where I
really shifted some things moving
forward and my focus and
how I’m going to present things and how
I’m going to interact with my my
audience
so there we are thank you for for being
here for being a part of this community
and next week I will be back with a new
guest Krista Watson of Krista quilts I’m
very excited to introduce you to her she
was so fun to chat with such a positive
and motivational person and a real
go-getter she’s been very successful but
also shares a big chunk of time where
she really struggled with her business
and I really appreciate her sharing that
as well but how she overcame that you
know years of time that was really
difficult and their entire family was
hinging on this business being
successful and then how they they
overcame that as a family as a husband
and wife couple that work together and
how she has had a lot of success and
hearing the different ways that she
brings in an income so yes I’m very
excited for you to meet Krista next week
if you don’t know her already so thank
you so much for being here on the
crafter career podcast again hopefully
you paused at the beginning of the
episode and left a review if not hop on
over and do that now and also remember
next week is the 100th episode of The
Craft a career podcast so come and
celebrate with me and I have some fun
announcements to share we’ll see you
right back here next Friday until then
have a great week
