HOW TO TURN YOUR BUSINESS INTO A DREAM LIFESTYLE FULFILLMENT MACHINE

And Escape The Cult Of Comparison For Good

Just the other day I had the very unfortunate experience of getting caught in grid-locked 5 pm traffic on the way home from another adventure.

The news blasting on the radio confirmed that the world was going up in flames – again.

And as I looked out the window, watching the people make their stressful commutes home I couldn’t help but notice something…

The people caught in traffic looked a lot like the living dead.

Their pale contorted faces resembled some unholy union between permanent exhaustion and pure rage.

Before climbing into the car, I watched more hurried people cram piles of overloaded shopping bags into fancy cars.

It was Friday, so I imagine they were ready to rush home, stuff their faces with the latest super-size-me junk food, indulge in a weekend of margarita-flavoured liver destruction, and Netflix n’ chill their way through the weekend only to wake up to another hellscape Monday and repeat the process all over again.

“Is this what it means to be successful?” I wondered.

“Work all day so you can buy a bunch of fancy things, live in a snazzy box, wear nice shoes and then die?“

I don’t know about you – but this sounds like a special kind of hell to me.

And this experience got me thinking – why do so many entrepreneurs still end up chasing this old paradigm of success? Why do clever entrepreneurs still get caught on the never-ending money-chasing hamster wheel? Why do we postpone happiness until we’ve reached a certain (arbitrary) revenue goal?

What if your business could be a vehicle for the kind of life that you didn’t need to escape from? What if we didn’t need to have a million bucks in the bank to make the lifestyle of our dreams a reality?

So in today’s article, I’m going to show you how you can redefine the rules of success, quit the comparison club and turn your business into the ultimate desire fulfilment machine.

First things first…

MOVING BEYOND THE MONEY

Usually, when I talk to entrepreneurs (and people in general) about their goals, most people agree that it would be fantastic to have a million bucks in the bank – or at the very least, a few extra zeros at the end of their paychecks.

The fun part of the conversation comes in when I ask them what exactly they’d do once the money was in the bank.

The conversation usually goes something like this:

“So what’s the end goal? Why are you putting in all the extra hours/pursuing the boring expensive degree/skipping lunch breaks to make extra sales calls (fill in your own flavour of unpleasant hardworking activity)”

“So I can bring in more revenue”

“Cool, and then what?”

“Well if I had as much money as I wanted I’d probably never have to work again. My life would be a permanent holiday. I could sell the business (or retire from my job).”

“Right. And then what?”

“Well, I haven’t thought that far…”

End of conversation.

You see, most people are so busy chasing the money wheel that they don’t ever stop to ask the question – why do I want to make all this money in the first place?

People are incredibly passionate about how they’re being oppressed and held back from their dream lives – but funny enough, most of these people can’t articulate precisely what they’re being held back from.

And this mentality keeps so many entrepreneurs stuck in an endless loop of comparison as a result of trying to keep up with the entrepre-jones instead of defining what the rules of success look like to THEM.

What happens after the grand paycheck comes in?

What do you want to do with your life?

These are some pretty uncomfortable questions – and most people are too busy’ running on the money-grabbing hedonic treadmill to confront their own existential dread – or worse give up on the possibility of their dream life altogether because it’s simply too uncomfortable to think outside the box.

KEEPING UP WITH THE ENTREPRE-JONESES

When we don’t have our own clearly defined roadmap for what success looks like to us, we take our queues from other entrepreneurs – and random strangers on the internet.

We pick arbitrary numbers as benchmarks that decide whether or not we’re worthy and successful (Whether it’s about hitting 10 000 followers on IG or rocking $10k months. Pick your poison.) – regardless of whether or not these milestones will bring joy and value to our lives.

We get stuck in the never-ending pursuit of MORE.

And yet – most entrepreneurs that are stuck on the treadmill are utterly miserable.

Yip – even the ones bringing in a lot more than $10k per month.

And in many cases, they’ve unconsciously swapped cubicle corporate life for another kind of prison cell.

So how do we escape the rat race?

How do we stop going to trigger town every time we see someone flaunting their latest sales figures with celebratory balloons online?

It starts with one simple thing…

REDEFINING THE RULES OF THE GAME

A long time ago, I made a decision that changed the trajectory of my life forever. I was attending a business seminar, and we were asked to define what a successful business was.

Some answered – “Profitable!”

Others proudly answered, “Scalable!”

And at that moment – what popped into my hedonistic brain was:

“A needs and desire fulfilment machine.”

I truly believe that a business – built within this intention gets to be a vehicle that supports both you and others to fulfil their needs and desires.

It’s a win-win situation when you look at it this way.

Because when you’re focused on building a business with profit and scalability as your only two considerable variables – you’ll come dangerously close to becoming the kind of entrepreneur that’s profit rich but lifestyle-poor.

There are plenty of rich people out there who are ‘profitably’ working themselves into an excitement-starved existence and an early grave.

So I decided to ask a better question:

How can I set my business up to support others to fulfil a significant need or desire WHILE using it as a vehicle to also fulfil my own dreams and desires?

And what the heck do my desires even look like?

At that stage, I didn’t have a clue.

But one thing was for certain. I definitely didn’t want to end up looking like the middle-aged men in grey suits at the seminar – and I definitely didn’t want to be living the reality that came from doing business their way.

DECODING WHAT SUCCESS MEANS TO YOU

So here’s the deal.

Despite what Instagram told you, not everyone wants to drive a Ferrari and live in a mansion on an exotic island.

Some people prefer the idea of living a quiet life in the woods and receiving their Hogwarts acceptance letter in the mail (or is that just me?)

In fact, the more you talk to people, the more you realize that every single person’s dream life looks totally different.

Some people want to travel the world.

Others want fame.

Some want a life of adventure and exploration, and others want a quiet life of rest, creativity and relaxation.

The point is – everyone has a flavour.

And until you find yours – you’ll be stuck forcing yourself into someone else’s mould for success. Which ususally equates to a miserable existence.

When you find out what matters to you, you’re able to redefine the rules of the game and opt out of the comparison cult of success because you won’t be working to achieve someone else’s dream life anymore.

You’ll instead be focusing all your energy on building the kind of life and business that matters to YOU.

So let’s figure out exactly what your needs and wildest desires are.

THE ANTI-VISION

Back when I sat down and tried to answer the question:

“If my business could fulfil any and all of my desires while helping others to do the same, what would I want to experience?”

I drew a major blank.

Sorry to disappoint you.

So I decided to use my biggest talent to my advantage:

Thinking of unreasonable doomsday scenarios.

I asked a different question:

“Hey brain, paint me a nightmare picture of how my life would look if everything went horribly wrong in the next 5 years. I’m hating my life and everything in it – what does my experience look like?”

Suddenly my brain had no problem filling out pages of detailed definitions of my living nightmare life.

Once I’d got it out of my system, I asked:

“What if I flipped the script? What would the opposite look like?”

Bingo.

Clarity on my unique flavour of success.

DREAMSCAPING

Now it’s your turn.

Let’s start with excavating some of those long-lost dreams and desires.

The trick is not to downsize your dreams.

If you want a Ferarri – don’t settle for a beat-up budget ford.

Right now, how will this happen doesn’t have anything to do with you.

This is simply an exercise in flexing your ‘desire muscle’ – which has probably atrophied during all the years of trying to be an acceptable adult with ‘realistic’ dreams.

Grab a notebook and pen and think about the following questions:

What are 3 things I’d love to own/have/purchase in the next 12 months?
What are 3 things I’d love to do/experience over the next 12 months?
Who would I like to be? What would that entail doing? (For example, being a confident horse rider might look like being able to tack up, mount and ride without supervision)

Struggling with this exercise?

You probably need it more than you realize.

If this doesn’t feel like a fit – try out the anti-vision exercise instead and come back to this later.

DOING THE MATH

Now that I was clear on what my ideal experience was, and I was clear that my definition of success in business was to set myself up to fulfil my desires whilst helping others to do the same, all that was left to do is figure out what this looked like tangibly.

So I whipped out the calculator and got stuck into a little math.

Because if chasing someone else’s arbitrary revenue goal wasn’t working for me – I was going to need to get clear on what my dream lifestyle looked like – and exactly how much cash I’d need to be bringing in to make that a reality.

So go on – take a moment.

Whip out that dusty calculator.

And work out what it would cost for you to live your dream life this year.

What would it cost for you to have everything you want this year?

What would it cost to have the experiences you desire this year?

Spend some time here. I’ll meet you back here in a moment.

Got your magic monthly total?

Great.

Chances are high that you don’t need a million bucks in the bank to start living your dream life.

There’s an even bigger chance that some of these impossible goals suddenly look a whole lot more attainable.

And maybe there’s a bit of panic in your system as your brain grapples with the how of it all.

That’s okay too.

Celebrate yourself for getting this far – because the reality is that most people don’t ever have the courage to look beyond a medicore life.

WHERE TO NEXT

Congratulations, you’ve redefined the rules of success.

This means no more chasing someone else’s blueprint for success.

No more striving towards an arbitrary revenue goal.

You’ve finally got something worth getting excited about – and the best part? It’s 100% unique to you. You’ve rekindled your deepest excitement and you’re ready to go out into the world to take action and turn your dreams into your reality.

And you know exactly what revenue goal to shoot for to make these dreams a reality.

So what’s next?

I recommend brainstorming 3 micro-actions you can take to move into momentum.

Want to drive your dream car?

Call your local dealership and book a test drive.

Want to get fluent in ancient Latin?

Do a quick Google search for a local language club.

Want to go scuba diving?

Get a quote from your local travel agency.

Miracles love momentum.

So get into motion!

Remember – the competition for mediocre dreams is the highest simply because most people do not have the courage to dream big.

Forget average.

Go for gold.

And remember that your dreams won’t chase themselves.

And finally, if you need help bridging the gap between where you are in business and where you’d like to be (yes I’m talking about you juicy lifestyle freedom) drop me the word FREEDOM in the chat (on the bottom right of your screen) or on any of my social platforms. Helping entrepreneurs build profitable lifestyle-focused businesses is kind of my jam and I’d love to support you to make some magic.

Whether you’re a new entrepreneur trying to figure out how to create the cash flow to make your dreams a reality or an established business owner looking to free up time to play and explore – I’ve got you.

IN SUMMARY

Your business gets to be whatever you decide it does. It’s entirely possible to turn your business into a dream lifestyle fulfilment machine for both you AND your clients. It gets to be a win win for everyone – but only if you have the courage to question everything and think outside the box.

JOURNALING & REFLECTION

Here are some of my favorite reflection questions from today’s topic:

* Where has playing by other people’s rules of success got me?

* Where have I unconsciously set goals and standards that don’t reflect the lifestyle I want to be living? What would I want to experience instead?

* What are 3 things I’d love to own/have/purchase in the next 12 months?

* What are 3 things I’d love to do/experience over the next 12 months?

* Who would I like to be? What would that entail doing? (For example, being a confident horse rider might look like being able to tack up, mount and ride without supervision)

* What would it cost to live my dream year this year? How much revenue would I need to generate monthly to make this a reality? 

* What 3 micro actions can I take to bring my dream reality closer to my actual reality? What can I do right away to build momentum? 

* What do I need to bridge the gap between where I am and where I want to be? How can I ask for support? (*Hint – drop me the word FREEDOM in the chat. I might be able to help you out.)