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We tend to pick up a standard definition of what success looks like.

Whether it’s being at the top of a corporate ladder or being married with kids before a certain age - chances are something is already etched into our brains as to what success *should* look like. It may have been picked up from parents because you were praised for a certain type of achievement or it might just be from those societal norms that are dictated to us over and over again.

We have to try to unlearn this to really dig into what success means for us. Ignore any little niggling thoughts in your brain which are *shoulds* and instead try to dig into what you really want.

It might take a while to take these thoughts away as with any habit but once you do, your mind will be much more open to allowing you to achieve a level of success that is potentially different from what you’ve learned in the past.

WHAT FILLS YOU WITH JOY?

It doesn’t just have to be work or business focused, it can be the way you want to live your life, how you want to spend your time, what your work/life balance looks like and what you want to be saving towards to do things which are completely joyful for you.

We can also think carefully about our business and what brings us joy there - after all, we’re likely to be spending a good amount of time working and what’s the point in the flexibility of running your own business if you can’t make your work life happy too! So think about the work you love doing, the clients that make your life easier and the type of the design that you could do for hours and hours without wanting to stop.

These things which make you happy and fill you with joy are going to be the basis of what your success is. Success is nothing without the happiness behind it!

THINK BIG, DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF

When we start thinking about what success looks like for us, we can often start looking a little too close to home. What we want by the end of the month, thinking about what we can be doing over the next few weeks, and thinking that you have to take the position you’re in now and just step it up slightly.

Instead of basing your changes on where you are now, base them on where you want to be. So instead of thinking small and worrying about where we are right now, think about your big picture goals and having those in mind can help you make big impact decisions that get you working to get there much quicker.

IT’S 100% ABOUT YOU

I along with anyone else find comparison a tricky beast to manage. And I had so many messages from other designers to chat about issues around comparing ourselves to other business owners and comparison comes into measuring our success so much because it’s so easy to start measuring our success based on what others are doing and achieving.

So instead of looking outwards at what other people are doing to think about what you want, go completely inwards and try your best to avoid any external influence when you’re thinking about what you want from life and work. Once you’ve figured out what brings you happiness, it makes it a lot easier to do this without worrying about anyone else as these are things only you can know are good for you.

YOU ARE DESERVING OF IT ALL

You have to know that whatever results you come up with, you are completely worthy of it. We can sometimes talk ourselves out of certain goals because we feel like we aren’t good enough to get there or that we don’t deserve it. These are thoughts that can come with us from childhood or even just with the self-doubt that comes with imposter syndrome but I promise you we all deserve whatever our big goals look like.

If you need a pick me up when you feel like you aren’t worthy of what your version of success looks like, write down some affirmations or do some vision boarding to help you feel really connected with your future self and what you can achieve.

If you want some more support with your design business, join us over at The Daring Designers Club Facebook community! It’s completely free to join and we have accountability, exclusive workshops and so much support from amazing designer business owners.