Success in business isn’t a one-size-fits-all formula. But are you chasing your version of success, or someone else’s? If you’re striving for an idea of success that doesn’t align with your values, you’ll always feel out of sync.
This is a question every business owner needs to revisit often. Because what you thought success looked like five years ago might not be what truly fulfils you today. And if you’re stuck chasing a goal that no longer serves you, it’s time to recalibrate.
Why defining success in business matters
We talk a lot about success, but have you ever stopped to ask yourself—what does success in business actually look like for you?
Not what it looks like for your competitors. Not what it looks like for the influencers you follow. Not even what it looks like for your industry peers.
If you don’t take the time to define success on your own terms, you’ll spend your whole career chasing something that might not even make you happy.
Success without ego: a story about being “rich”
I recently had a conversation with an industry peer who told me, on multiple occasions, that she wanted to be rich.
This time, instead of just nodding along, I asked her—“What does being rich mean to you?”
Her answer stopped me in my tracks.
She told me that being rich meant eating three meals a day and not having to fear for her safety.
You see, she grew up in a poverty-stricken part of the Philippines where food wasn’t always guaranteed. Sometimes they ate, sometimes they didn’t. And while her life looks very different now, that was what being rich truly meant to her.
We then spoke about her business aspirations, and it was incredible to think how far she had come. Not just in her career, but in the way she had rewritten her own story.
What she wanted—what success in business meant to her—was security, stability, and the ability to provide without fear. That was her benchmark. Not fast cars or a six-figure salary—just the feeling of safety and freedom she didn’t have growing up.
How to define business success on your own terms
Are you working towards a version of success that’s truly yours, or are you chasing something that doesn’t even fit anymore?
Maybe success for you means having a three-day work week.
Maybe it means building a team so your business can run without you.
Maybe it means hitting a financial target—or maybe it means earning enough to live comfortably and have weekends off.
If success for you means freedom, but you’re drowning in 70-hour work weeks just to say you “own a business,” is that success?
If success for you means balance, but you’re burning yourself out to keep up with industry expectations, is that success?
Success isn’t always about more. Sometimes it’s about enough.
Action steps: how to define your own version of business success
Step 1: define what success looks like for you right now
Write down what success means to you in this season of life and business. Not what you thought it meant 5 years ago. Not what it means to your mentor, friend, or competitor.
Step 2: ask yourself why that matters
Why is this your definition of success? What is the core feeling behind it? Security? Freedom? Stability? Recognition?
Step 3: check if your actions align with that vision
Are you working towards this version of success, or are you stuck in autopilot, chasing someone else’s? If something feels off, it might be time to recalibrate.
Step 4: give yourself permission to let go of what doesn’t serve you
If a goal or expectation doesn’t fit you anymore, let it go. There is no shame in changing direction.
Step 5: revisit this often
Your version of success will evolve as you do. Make it a habit to check in with yourself so you don’t end up climbing a ladder that was never yours to begin with.
Sit with it
This is your life, your business, your version of success. No one else gets to define it but you.
So take a moment. Ask yourself:
✔ What does success in business look like to me?
✔ Am I actually holding myself to that—or am I trying to fit into someone else’s ideal?
🎧 Let’s take this conversation deeper—check out our podcast episode where we explore this idea further.
https://www.salonrising.com/salon-rising-the-podcast-scaling-v-growing