Why Money Shouldn't Be Your Only Currency of Success
By Sara Bacon
Do you have a monetary number in mind when you think of what "making it" would look like to you? Chances are you've probably at least once thought about how nice it would be to make X amount of money every month or every year, if that's not what's already consuming your current career and life goals.
When I left my corporate job, I took a significant pay cut in my career. I made the decision that doing what I loved - even if I had no idea what that was at that point - was more important than a steady paycheck, and so I took a risk. Several years later, I'm still not making the kind of money I did at that job, though I am working towards a life that makes that and then some, and all on my own.
There are moments when that fact has felt very discouraging. I know the kind of money I want to be making, and so every time a month end rolled around and I realized I wasn’t close to hitting that, it felt like defeat. Until I decided to reframe everything about where I was at in life, including what factors I allowed to define "success" for me, in order to more fully enjoy it. And this is how I did that:
I took inventory on my life and realized that almost every day I get to wake up and essentially plan how I want that day to go. I can sleep in when I need to, I enjoy the people I work for on the side, and I adore the work I'm doing here: sharing tools and roadmaps with people that help them to embrace the fullness that life has to offer. I have freedom and flexibility in my life, and the space to nurture my physical and emotional well-being. And the truth is, I would willingly sacrifice money from a corporate job for all of these benefits!
I still believe it's possible to have all of it co-exist together, and that's why I'm passionate and relentless about pursuing that kind of life. But in the meantime, it's helpful for me to remember that I'm still actively creating success for myself with my choices even if the money isn't fully there yet. And so if you're in a similar place, I wanted to encourage you to try the same exercise:
As you're dreaming up and crafting what your most vibrant life looks like (which is exactly what the "How to Deeply Enjoy Your Life" guide helps you do!), pay attention to allll the aspects of your dream day/schedule/job/etc. and see where in your life you're already living that, or where you can create more of it, before the dream salary is there too. Not only does this help instill gratitude and feelings of abundance, but it helps you stay on track to getting all those components of your dream life as you continue to work towards them.
The moral of this story is: dream big, hi def humans, but don't forget to enjoy every single part of the journey along the way to those dreams, because otherwise, what’s the point? ;)
If you’d like guidance with dreaming up and creating a plan for that dream life of yours, snag your own “Enjoy Your Life” guide that has 50+ pages of prompts and resources for building joy and intentionality into every corner of your life (it’s only $24!).
