A formula for success.

What is personal writing success? 

I’m going to share a definition of success with you in further down however I want to talk about it here, too.

Personal writing success is going to mean something different for every writer. There are many writers who will engage with me and Debut Books because to be traditionally published is their dream. 

And yet. There are also writers for whom writing a book means something else.

I once spoke with a woman who went on adventures with her grandkids every week and they were always taking photos of the local flora and fauna. She wanted to learn how to write a children’s book so she could compile the photos and some knowledge about the animals and plants they found and turn it into a book they could keep. She only wanted to write a book for them. That was her personal writing success.

Perhaps you want to learn how to write a book that is for personal fulfilment only.

Perhaps you want to write a book and self publish it (your way) to share with family, friends and whomever else may be interested.

Some people want to write a book to help promote their personal brand whether it be for a small business, for coaches, or educators etc.

It is essential that you work this out for yourself, as early in the writing process as you can because it will help you define the rest of your steps in your writing journey.

Have you ever questioned what the word ‘success’ means specifically for you?

In our modern world, success has become synonymous with financial wealth and notoriety. It is the definition that is constantly reinforced via social media, film, TV etc etc.

This dominant narrative around success is ‘from an outside-in perspective (what other people consider most important in life) versus an inside-out perspective (what I really care about).’

When you’re a small business owner, financial success is apparently the only measure of success. Along with being able to scale and grow your business.

And when this doesn’t happen at the ‘expected rate’ cough overnight success cough, I cannot tell you how much stress and anxiety that causes.

It got to the point where I felt like such a failure and it impacted the way I showed up in the business.

But after diving down the Google rabbit hole, I finally landed in a space that let me know that there is an alternative, that I could do things differently.

I found a blog written by Imogen Roy, someone I had never heard of before. She describes herself as an ‘accomplice and mentor of entrepreneurs, artists and specialists doing visionary work in the world.’

She sounds like my kind of person.

The myth of ‘overnight success’ has invaded publishing too. We are not often shown the journey to a writer’s success, only the highlights reel. The odds for actual overnight success – when a writer is plucked from obscurity and sells thousands of copies – is a million to one (the odds are not in our favour). They are the exception to the rule and as much as it pains me to say it – it is highly unlikely that we’re the one.

And if we continually play into this fantasy, we do more harm to our chances of personal success.

I love Imogen’s formula for self-described success so much that I’m sharing it directly from her blog. Full credit to Imogen from here on!

Imogen writes,

What Does Success Look Like For You?

As a former corporate marketing manager, I used this question a lot when planning big projects and campaigns with colleagues. But I had never asked it of myself. When I finally did, the first place I looked was the English Collins Dictionary definition. Here’s what I found:

success (noun)

(səkses )

1. Success is the achievement of something that you have been trying to do.

2. Success is the achievement of a high position in a particular field, for example in business or politics.

3. Someone or something that is a success achieves a high position, makes a lot of money, or is admired a great deal.

Unfortunately, I believe too many people understand the word success by definitions 2 and 3 and not enough by 1 — “Success is the achievement of something that you have been trying to do.

The versions of success in definitions 2 and 3 are our Western cultural baggage. Achieve a high position. Make a lot of money. Be admired a great deal.

The problem with those definitions is that they suggest that anyone who doesn’t achieve those things in life is not a success. And that’s nonsense.

Let’s imagine success another way.

Success = financial stability + creative freedom + lifestyle design.

Financial stability…means having control over your time, workload and income. It means you can sustainably earn the income you want without working more than you want.

Creative freedom…means working as much as you want, when you want, where you want and with whom you want.

Lifestyle design…means arranging work around your lifestyle, not the other way round. It means being able to prioritise your family, your health, your hobbies and still deliver great work.

If you’re reading this and thinking , “Ha! Get real. As if it’s possible to live a life like that”, then you’re not alone. I too believed that to be successful, you had to sacrifice something. To be really successful, you had to sacrifice a lot.

But I’ve learned a great deal since then. I’ve learned that success is an inside job.

Success simply means achieving what you want. What you want. What YOU want.

If success for you looks nothing like a high position, a lot of money and admiration — that’s success! And if you really want a high position, a lot of money and admiration — that’s success! But if you get all those things yet what you really wanted was a quiet, easy life in a cottage by the sea, then that’s not success.

When Success Is Not Success

Here’s my unpopular opinion: Success without fulfilment is not success. It’s failure.

If you are materially successful but spiritually bankrupt, that’s failure.

If you have attained a “high position” but at a detriment to your health and your relationships, that’s failure.

If you are “greatly admired” but are plagued with self-loathing, that’s failure.

Success is simply being able to say in 10 years: I designed this life. I didn’t settle for it. I didn’t sacrifice.

Success feels and looks different for every single person. It’s not a destination but an ever-evolving journey, and it doesn’t come with a map because there is no one path. Once you understand this, you can start designing your life based on what you want, not what you think you should do.

I believe that everyone can design their life on their own terms. It requires some deep thought, epic imagination, strategic planning, the courage to make some big decisions, and a whole lot of commitment.

It may sound unrealistic. But it’s absolutely possible.

Writing Your Own Definition Of Success

The first exercise I ask new coaching client of mine to do is called Vision of Success, and I’m going to share it right here with you.

It involves writing your own definition of success by describing in concrete, tangible details exactly what Lifestyle Design, Creative Freedom and Financial Stability would mean for you.

So grab a notebook and start answering the following questions. Try to be as specific and precise as you can.

1. LIFESTYLE DESIGN: What does success look like for you in terms of health and wellness, family and social life, holidays and hobbies? Where do you spend your time day-to-day, week-to-week, and how do you spend it?

2. CREATIVE FREEDOM: What does meaningful work feel like for you professionally? What kind of people do you work for and with? How do they inspire you? Do you get to work on personal creative projects as well as client ones? Do you get to switch off and step back from work whenever you want without everything crashing down around you?

3. FINANCIAL STABILITY: What does financial success look like in order to be able to afford the lifestyle you want? What’s your “more-than-enough number” that leaves you with plenty to save for the future and give back? Get really specific with the numbers. Think about revenue but also personal income goals, budgets for ideal savings, investments and charitable giving.
   
   Use your answers to weave together what success means for you. Return to it regularly. Revise if necessary.

 CREDIT: Imogen Roy