🎧 The Motivated CEO: Business Strategy for Entrepreneurs is streaming on all platforms. Listen here. Also streaming on YouTube.
Turning Setbacks into Setups: Lessons in Resilience from an Entrepreneur's Journey
Setting Lofty Goals: The Double-Edged Sword
As high achievers, many entrepreneurs push boundaries, striving to exceed expectations. Amy recounts her own ambitious nature, from earning her degree at 20 to consistently setting lofty goals. However, it's crucial to acknowledge that lofty goals also come with a significant risk of unmet expectations. This year, Amy reached only one out of five goals she had set.
Instead of viewing this as a failure, she challenged herself to see the unmet goals as opportunities for growth. “It really took a lot of discomfort in doing things that were very much outside of my comfort zone,” she shares. Stepping out of our comfort zones is essential to achieving extraordinary success, and sometimes, it requires us to face setbacks and learn from them.
The Power of Resilience and Adaptability
Amy's journey underscores the importance of resilience. "It taught me how to be okay with being a beginner again and again," she explains. As entrepreneurs, we often tie our worth to tangible outcomes and metrics. When things don't go as planned, it’s easy to feel disheartened. However, enduring setbacks is a testament to our resilience – an essential trait for any long-term success.
Adaptability also plays a crucial role. Amy encourages leveraging setbacks as information, noting, "These failures... are they really failures? Because what I got from this was so much information." Each setback provides data and insights that can help refine strategies and approaches moving forward.
Embracing Metrics to Drive Growth
Amy emphasizes the importance of getting intimate with our data. By utilizing data to drive decisions, we can identify gaps and opportunities that may not have been obvious without a detailed analysis. She mentions, "It really made me lean even more into my data, into my metrics, and use that as an opportunity to grow."
The significance of data cannot be understated. For entrepreneurs, it provides a factual basis for making informed decisions. Amy suggests that good data acts as a guide, propelling us toward success even when the path seems unclear.
Celebrate Progress and Small Wins
One of the most uplifting messages Amy conveys is to celebrate progress, regardless of how small it might seem. Goals unmet do not equate to total failure. Instead, they can signify progress made toward ultimate success. Amy reflects on her own journey, stating, "I'm not starting from ground zero. I have made so much progress already."
Recognizing and celebrating small victories keeps motivation high and reminds us of the strides we've already made. It also fosters a positive mindset, essential for enduring the highs and lows of entrepreneurship.
Joy in the Journey: Embracing the Process
Success is a journey, not a destination. Amy reminds us, “The joy of life is in the journey.” As entrepreneurs, it’s easy to become fixated on the end goals and overlook the daily opportunities for growth and gratitude.
Expressing gratitude for each day and the opportunities it brings can significantly enhance the entrepreneurial experience. The journey itself holds tremendous value – in lessons learned, resilience built, and connections made. By appreciating this journey, we can find more satisfaction and purpose in our work.
Focusing on Impact Over Profit
Amy delivers a powerful reminder that while financial success is desirable, the true measure of our endeavors lies in the impact we create. “It’s not about the bottom line, it’s about the impact,” she declares. Our businesses exist to solve problems and bring value to others. By focusing on the positive change we can create, we elevate our work beyond mere profit generation.
Reflecting on the legacy we aim to leave, Amy urges us to leverage resources and data not just for financial gain, but for meaningful impact. In doing so, we can drive change that extends far beyond our immediate business.
Conclusion: Lessons for the New Year
As we approach a new year, let Amy’s reflections inspire us. Let's pause to celebrate our progress, learn from our setbacks, and embrace the journey of entrepreneurship. By combining resilience, adaptability, and a focus on impact, we can turn every setback into a setup for future success. Remember, you are capable, you are resilient, and your journey is uniquely valuable. Here’s to shattering sales plateaus and creating a legacy in 2025.
Episode Links
🎙️DID YOU LOVE THIS EPISODE?
Check out these episodes packed with even more strategies to help you shatter your sales plateau!
❌ Don't buy my Bestselling Book, The CEO Method: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Business Success because I want to give you a FREE copy. Click here!
🙋♀️ Ask me anything! I know you have a burning business question you would love to ask. Submit your question here for a chance to have it answered on a future episode.
Transcript for Episode 379. I Didn’t Reach 80% of My Goals This Year
Amy [00:00:02]:
If you're anything like me, then each year you take the time to set goals. It's what we're taught to do, right? We always have to have something to aspire to. Well, I set some pretty big goals this year, and I didn't reach four of the five goals that I set. And in today's episode, I want to take you behind the scenes as to what I learned from this and how I navigate it. Because as entrepreneurs, so often we tie our worth to the metrics, to the outcomes, to the lack of success that we, quote, unquote, had. You know, it's one of those things that what really is success, we get to determine what it is. And so the very first thing, you know, I did when I was setting these goals was I set some pretty lofty goals. I am a high achiever.
Amy [00:01:05]:
I am the person that would always go above and beyond, always overachieving. I was that person. I mean, heck, I graduated with my degree when I was 20 from college, so I had my degree before I could even drink, which is still crazy to me. You know, I look back and I go, wow, I wish I would have just taken the time to embrace where I was in life. But no, I knew what I wanted and I was going to get it. So I put in the action and I did it. But where did it get me? Okay, I'm not even using that degree anymore, but that's beside the point. So I set these big, lofty goals because I knew if I wanted to get to where I wanted to be, doing the same old thing wasn't going to get me there.
Amy [00:01:55]:
So I needed to stretch myself. I needed to get uncomfortable and stop playing it safe, check my ego at the door and be willing to, quote, unquote, fail, not succeed. But it really took a lot of discomfort in doing things that were very much outside of my comfort zone, that didn't feel good at the time. But what that taught me was my resilience. It taught me how to be okay with being a beginner again and again, not tying our worth to the outcome. Because these setbacks, these failures, I guess you can call them, are they really failures? Because what I got from this, with so much information, I had so many amazing opportunities come up this year, all because I had set those goals. And when we face these setbacks, we realize that this is just information. And this really made me lean even more into my data, into my metrics, and use that as an opportunity to grow, to get curious, to use it as an opportunity to see those things that are right there in front of me.
Amy [00:03:29]:
Different ways to make things work. And that's the really cool thing, is there's no one way to get to the outcome. There's 50,000 different roads you can take to get to your destination. And this is what it took for me. Learning how to leverage that data even more efficiently so that I can propel myself to success is. It's always easy to focus on the things that we didn't achieve. You know, when I looked at my goals, they're actually posted on my wall right in front of me. I look at them every Single day and December 1st rolled around and I go, you know what? There is no way in God's green earth that four of these five things are going to happen this year.
Amy [00:04:22]:
But the key word is yet. I'm going to keep those goals on my wall for 2025 as a reminder. Because you know what? I'm not starting from ground zero. I have made so much progress already. And that's what I want you to remember, too. To celebrate those. To celebrate the progress you have made, to celebrate your resilience as an entrepreneur. Because this year was crazy.
Amy [00:04:50]:
If you are in the online space, you saw that the market shifted significantly. I saw it in my own business. Instead of seeing this rapid growth that I wanted, this year, it was a lot slower. Yeah, there was some growth, but it wasn't near what I had anticipated it to be based off of my data. And that's okay, because I do leverage my data. I'm able to fill those gaps, to see those opportunities to figure out how to get there. It might just take a little longer than I originally anticipated. And that's okay, because we have to remember in all of this hustle and bustle of life, the joy is really in the journey.
Amy [00:05:40]:
The joy of life is in the journey. In waking up every single day in gratitude, in thanksgiving for, you know what? I have another opportunity to put myself out there to make a difference, to make more money, to make more impact. Because that's what it's about. The product or service that you offer help someone. It's the solution to someone's problem. So you're doing yourself a disservice by playing small. You need to stretch yourself and put yourself out there so that you can bring such value and wisdom to the table. Because at the end of the day, it comes down to this.
Amy [00:06:28]:
Yes, the money's nice, but what impact can you create with that money? We need more good people doing good things with their money. It's not about the Bottom line, it's about the impact. It's about the legacy that we are going to leave, not just for ourselves, but for generations to come. And that's the really cool thing in this world. It's infinite. The possibilities are endless. And if you find yourself comparing to other successes that you see online, remember that is showing you that it's proof. It is proof that it is possible for you, too.
Amy [00:07:14]:
Because those that you see achieving what you want, they're not any smarter than you. They're don't. Most of the time, they're not more educated than you. They've just figured out how to put themselves out there and how to leverage their data to drive their decisions. They are proof of concept. They are that light for you, shining bright, showing you the way. So get curious and use it as an opportunity to learn from them. This year was wild.
Amy [00:07:48]:
It was so wild, and I saw so many incredible entrepreneurs close up shop, and I don't want you to be one of them. As we go into this new year, take the time to pause and reflect. Reflect back on 2024. And instead of worrying about what you didn't accomplish, I want you to celebrate yourself for what you did accomplish. Your grit, your tenacity, your resilience brought you here today, brought you to this moment right now. And I am celebrating you so big right now. We all need to celebrate ourselves and focus on how much progress we have made. And at the end of the day, this is information, right? When things don't work out like we thought, what valuable information we have now, because now we know, okay, that didn't work.
Amy [00:08:49]:
And we can ask ourselves my favorite question. How can I. How can I make this work to achieve the success that I want, on my terms, in a way that feels good to me? Because at the end of the day, this is your business and you make the rules. So embrace this wild, crazy journey that is entrepreneurship, and you will achieve the massive success that you are here for, that you want to make and leave that impact, leave that legacy on the world in 2025. I am here cheering for you. And until next time, leverage your data and shatter your sales plateau.
Comments