Redefining Success
our measurement of success
When we first became business owners, we were completely overwhelmed. The new skill sets needed to do the paperwork, taxes, payroll, financial managing, customer service, and maintaining equipment were hard to attain. It took us so many years just to understand what it meant when something was a “write off” for our taxes. The learning curve was and still is steep!
There’s another side that we learned too that we wanted to talk about today and it’s the culturally engrained idea of “growing” and “being bigger” and “doing more more more!” This kind of thinking is pervasive in our culture and it permeated a lot of what we used to define as SUCCESS in our journey.
our breaking point
When we were in the process of deciding to sell the coffee shop side of our business, we took some time away just the two of us to reflect and seek wisdom on some tough decisions. This process led us to measuring and evaluating how successful we had been in running the coffee shop. We used all the regular metrics in our evaluation that included our bank accounts, our profit and loss, the aesthetic and design of our store, the quality of our customer service, the efficiency of our employees, and the quality of our product.
As we were thinking about this, I happened upon an article that completely shifted my view. The article talked about an ending of a chapter similar to what we were going through and an evaluation process that left the author thinking they had failed in several ways. Then, they said something profound that has stuck with me today, what if we are using a different measuring stick than God to measure our success?
That thought hit us hard. We were measuring a lot of external things. Things that were important no doubt but we weren’t giving any voice to the internal things that most people would never see. Things like learning how to live and work together and becoming stronger in our relationship, learning how to go through a really hard season and the compassion that it gave us for others, learning that we weren’t the end all be all. There was a higher plan for our lives even when it didn’t look like that or feel like that. We learned an inner trust that accompanied us through all of the natural disasters, the financial challenges, and external problems our business survived. This in turn forced us to seek a way of living where PEACE is a marker of success that we are always looking for. This process challenged us to reframe our journey and what truly defines success in this life. We had to redefine what measurements we were using to define success.
how we define success these days
These days success for us doesn’t look like running a giant operation, having a zillion employees to “keep up” with demand, posting everyday on social media about how great we are, or having a successful shop that people rave about and a bank account so big we don’t feel limited. We would be fine if all these things were added onto us but honestly, they are no longer our main marker of “doing well in life.”
Our markers of success look more like not having anxiety or a panic attack in over a year, being disciplined in seeking health for some long term health issues, letting our house be a mess for a period while we enjoy a sunshine day with our kids, making a good cup of tea, finishing a book. Success looks more like going on a tailgate picnic date and having a really nice deep conversation, or reading a fairy tale to our kids at night unhurried, getting a compliment from ONE customer, or taking a walk and noticing the small intricacies of nature. In business, success these days looks more like fulfilling orders the same day, enjoying it just being the two of us as employees, meeting and connecting with people on a deeper level at events, inviting people into our roasting space to talk about our coffee, helping and supporting other businesses, and providing really good customer service.
Do you ever feel unsuccessful like we did? Can you redefine how you are measuring success in your own life? We challenged ourselves to name the things culture tells us are important and the things that define being a successful person and then we decided if we wanted to partner with those definition of success and if those things really induce happiness and lead us to a successful life. Our journey has taught us to seek the deeper things, the deeper pools and the wisdom for living that is found in those depths not so much the shallow water that culture preaches.