Measuring Your Success in 2021 By Gry Tomte

I’ve always been a high achiever. I also used to measure my success by numbers. The goal was “being number one” (whatever that is!?) Making a million dollars in turnover. Then it was two. And so on and so on....

I still remember clear as day, I was working with a coach and my goal at the time was “to make a million dollars”. Silly in hindsight. But that was the goal I had set for myself to know I was a success. If we as a business hit $1m, I’d made it...

Even more clearly though, I remember the month we did hit that target. You’d think I was on top of the world right? Celebrating?

Ummm. Not quite.

I was talking to my then coach, feeling like an absolute failure because we’d had so many cancelations that week!

It was early December and everyone on social media was talking about being super busy. And we just weren’t. We’d had a huge amount of cancelations and I really felt low.

But when we went through the figures, to my surprise we’d had the biggest month we’d ever had! And, we’d hit the $1m yearly turnover mark.

And here I was - I was miserable.

Feeling like a total failure.

Years later I’ve learnt three very valuable lessons about this experience.

1. Success isn’t measured by “that someday when you hit that particular target”. It’s in the moments along the way.

Because when that “someday” comes along, most likely you’ve already set yourself a new goal. And, you might not even know you reached it.

2. The moment you stop focusing on the output (making money, which of course we all need) and rather focus on the input, you’ll, by default, get a better output.

3. Success isn’t always what you think it will be. And, I’ll tell you about that next.

When the pandemic hit - it was PRETTY clear that a lot of the goals we had set for our business just wasn’t going to happen. And, as we realised it was going to go on for months, it was just very clear the writing was on the wall.

Now, I did have a choice. I could still go pursue opening another clinic. Be a shark - and look for whatever became available on the market.

Or, if I wanted to look after my team the way I wanted to, I knew I’d have to reframe my goals

I chose to look after my team as best I absolutely could.

I invested my time and my money on making sure they were ok and making their wage still - and that they were growing and not losing touch with their work. to work so we could look after our clients in the best possible way.

I was playing the long term game.

I also in the process I had some amazing realisations thinking about my own relationship with success.

And, that’s when I realised there’s another measurement; IMPACT.

I heard this fantastic talk the other day by one of my favourite speakers, Simon Sinek, which illustrates this absolutely perfectly.

Simon was doing a speaking engagement at the Pentagon when he was met by a well known general who took him to the conference hall to do his speech.

Whilst walking, you know, usually there’s a bit of chit chat about the weather - and parking and what not.

The general turned to Simon and said “I had everyone read your book”

To which Simon said “my publisher thanks you!”

The general then turned to Simon and said “no need - they all borrowed my book”. Book sale - 1.

But, when he did the speech, everyone there who’d read the book were really engaged and it was pretty clear they had enthusiastically taken onboard everything they’d read.

So book sale: 1. Impact: HUGE

Vs a big conference where everyone gets a copy but uses them for coasters or looking pretty on the book shelf and never gets read.

Book sale: 500. Impact: None.

So what does that story have to do with your business do you ask?

Well, a short term “obvious failure” (like missing out on selling 500 books) can also be a long term success, like making an impact.

Now, I think of business like climbing to the top of a mountain.

Except there’s no mountain top in business - the road keeps going and going. (unless you’re planning on selling the business - then there’s a definite peak)

You need to know where you’re going and what the milestones along the way are. The goal is where we’re going and the KPI’s are what you want to hit along the way so you know if you’re on track to reach your goals.

But we’re in 2021 people!

In the middle of a once in a century pandemic! not getting to where you wanted to be in 2021;

or if you wanted to open 3 more businesses , or buy a house - and you’re just too exhausted or too tapped out of cash?

Then redefine the metrics you measure your success on.

What if you embrace that the road up that mountain is just a bit windier this year - and instead of thinking you have to get there by November, you’ll get there a bit later. And instead of focusing on the top of the mountain you focus on the little beautiful pit stops along the way? And enjoy those?

if you haven’t adjusted your expectations in a pandemic, you’re likely setting yourself up for some pretty dark days.

I’ve been there my friend. It’s not fun.

So instead, take steps every day that will take you in the right direction of where you want to go - then celebrate those milestones along the way.

Don’t miss them because of a once in a lifetime event like a pandemic you have NO control over, f*cked with your business.

Reframe that measure of success. I did.

And it actually not only brought me clarity over where I want to go, but it also gave me reason to celebrate some successes I’d previously missed because they weren’t my normal metrics.

Here’s 5 things I’d love for you to consider when you think about your success in 2021 and beyond:

1. What if, you measured your success on how aligned your team is with your business values and how much they buy into your vision? What would that look like? What could you do to get to where you’d like to be? What milestones could you celebrate? any time really!)? If you manage to implement a new client journey or a new treatment that can get your clients faster results or that will make your retention go up? What could you do to focus on that success metric?

3. What if, you sit back and really think about the fact that in the midst of a world wide, once in a century pandemic, you’ve managed to stay afloat? That’s not a small feat. Many haven’t.

If that’s you, celebrate it. And celebrate those who helped get you there.

4. What if, you let go of the revenue goals you set for 2021 end of financial year, which is just an arbitrary date - and instead say: “I’ll hit it by December. Or February”. Let that go and rather play the long term game. Be ok with some things being on hold momentarily. What if you focused on doing the best you can to look after those clients who need you, rather than the money you thought you’d make but didn’t?

5. What if, rather than being focused on the numbers you didn’t hit, you’re focused on how you can inspire your team to do their best work and live their best life while they are under your care? How would that look like?

How successful would you be?

You can make an impact in many ways.

The people you employ, the clients who choose you as a business, the clients who haven’t yet chosen you. Your family. Yourself. Other people in the industry you can inspire.

For me, I measure my success on the impact on all of the above.

Remember, there’s no top of the mountain, so celebrate the pitstops along the way and you’ll experience success.

Because success is all about how you frame it.

If you’re interested in more follow Gry on instagram @grytomte