What do you really want?
No matter what stage your business is at, it’s a good time to (re)visit what you want it to be.
What YOUR vision is. What YOU want to be doing.
Because it’s so darn easy to get caught up in what everyone else is doing and achieving.
Because it’s all too easy to lose sight of, or not even have caught sight of, what you truly want.
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On envy.
On a recent episode of The Mare Forleo Podcast with guest Elise Loehnen, they dove into a discussion of envy, one of the seven deadly sins covered in the latter’s recently published book, “On Our Best Behavior: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Price Women Pay to Be Good.”
You’ve likely noticed that it’s become common to think of envy more positively — that is as recognition of things you see others experiencing or having, with a sting your heart, as being a sign of something you want for yourself.
With this in mind, Marie Forleo shared:
I've actually wrestled with it [envy] a bit in the past because there have been times when I've looked at something that someone else is either doing or has accomplished or created and I'm like oh I think I want that too.
And I didn't dig deep enough because I went chasing after it going like oh well if they can create it I can create it too. So that's my like little sunny disposition and my optimism at work and then totally found myself going I don't want that.
Like it took me off track now is my experience because again I didn't stop and dig deep enough I think if I were to be just a little bit more descriptive there I didn't ask myself WHY and what the thing. It's so much more specific…
What do I want?”
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What do you truly want?
Getting clear on that. Digging deeper into the why of your want and the specificity, the exact nature of it.
One example, do you want to share your message on a stage, in front of a crowd of people? Or do you want to share it in a way that is more subtle and behind the scenes?
That specificity is important because every want comes with a price. This is not a bad thing. It’s reality. Are you willing to pay the price? To put in the hours? To do what it takes?
Marie and Elise touched on this and shared the Mark Manson tenet that asks:
“‘Are you willing to eat that shit sandwich?’… You can create anything you want, but are you will to do all the work it takes to get there?”
And as you do the analysis, peeling back the layers of the onion to get to exactly what it is that you want, pay attention to your body.
How does it feel when you really want something? How does it feel when you’ve tapped into something you think you should want?
There will be a difference. Learn what it is.
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What do you want your business to be?
Last week, I shared a podcast episode in the Resources that I want to tap into today. It speaks directly to the very real need to define business growth on your own terms.
On the This is 50 Podcast, host Lynnette Turner and her guest, commercial photographer and brand strategist Laura Benn discussed “How to Navigate the Entrepreneurial Path with Confidence and Creativity.”
At one point in the conversation, Lynette asked Laura what scaling meant to her now that she’s 10 years into her business.
Here’s what Laura shared:
“There was a time in my life where I was like, ‘oh I'd love a studio with like 12 other photographers and like here we go.’ But I realized that in assuming that [role] I actually wouldn't get to shoot as much and I don't necessarily want to have the CEO role.
That's a big job…I mean you are when you're a one-person show totally but if you are moving into scaling the big team the CEO job is very different from the job I do now, and it's not personally how I want to spend my everyday life.
I love creating. I love working with people. I might scale in terms of developing some new offerings and some new products and things like that. But I think first and foremost before making a decision, it's really important to understand what brings you contentment what brings you fulfillment and what doesn't.
So for me, I definitely know the idea of having a massive team situation is not for me, that I don't want to be a manager, that's not what lights me up. But that doesn't mean you can't scale in other ways.”
There’s so much self-knowledge and wisdom that went into her answer. Laura gets the “shit sandwich” that comes with building a big studio, and she knows she doesn’t want to eat it.
She wants to continue to do work that lights her up and to grow her business in a way that is aligned with that work.
That is the goal. And it can look like anything you want.
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So how about you?
We’re at the start of a new quarter, which is always a handy time to stop and look a your business.
What do you truly want… for your business and your life?
Grab a pen and your journal and make a list.
Go back and for each item, ask yourself why. And then why again.
What do you need to do to get there?
Is it a price you’re willing to pay?
I hope the stories above inspire you to inquire.
How to choose between two (or more) business ideas >>
The importance of knowing your "why" in business and life >>