Balance Career Ambition And Restraint When Running Your Business

As a career change consultant, I find most of my clients, audiences, and followers are more focused on achieving unmet goals rather than just being content with their existing accomplishments. I can certainly relate. In my own career, I tend to put more of my attention on achieving something new rather than just accepting what I already have as enough.

Don’t get me wrong. I do appreciate what I have in my life and career like many of the professionals with whom I cross paths. Pushing myself is more about ensuring I don’t become complacent. After all, you never know what curveballs life might throw at you or what can suddenly get taken away from you when you least expect it. Especially these days, with all the sudden, mass layoffs and economic uncertainty more regularly featuring in news headlines, remaining proactive and ambitious feels prudent.

However, constantly striving and pushing yourself to do more all the time can also lead to burnout, especially when you’re working as an independent freelancer. That’s not to say traditional full-time employees don’t face stressors. But when you’re working independently, you may feel like your business’s survival is in your hands, which can bias you to operate in overdrive all the time.

The Productive Paranoia of Self-Employment

As a self-employed consultant, I never assume I have everything figured out. I try not to fall into the trap of getting too comfortable with my achievements. And I certainly never assume my existing client engagements will always remain in place.

The majority of my income comes from paid speaking engagements and workshops I host. And while I seem to be in a good place with it all at this moment, I also have a “productive paranoia” that these engagements could suddenly disappear, as they temporarily did during the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

So until recently, I tended to say yes to every single speaking opportunity that came my way as my way of ensuring I had some buffer and was never in a situation where all my eggs were in one client basket. However, while saying yes to most opportunities can pay off in the form of more business, greater reach, and more client diversification, it can also come at a cost.

Define What Success Means

An “always-hustle” mentality can fuel motivation, push you to do more, and keep you on your front foot. It allows you to work from a place of confidence, and if things an unexpected setback arose, at least you could say you were giving it your all every step of the way.

Constantly pushing yourself to strive for more can lead to mental and physical exhaustion. Trying to maintain the pace and productivity of an overextended version of yourself is just a recipe for burnout.

Pursue Sustainable Ambitions

Do you find yourself in a cycle of achieving your career goals only to then move those goalposts out a little farther?

I recognize the value of pushing to achieve more, to work more, to do more, and to balance more. Never settling can help you reach new heights in your career. Olympians certainly don’t win gold by simply sitting back and being satisfied with their performance to-date.

At the same time, setting realistic professional goals that don’t push you beyond your limits is critical for your long-term well-being. Knowing you can always chase more means that it’s even more important to get clear on what would be enough to make you truly happy.

Aim To Thrive Rather Than Acheive

What exact level of achievement would enable you to do the things you want in your life and feel the way you want in your career?

These days, rather than being solely obsessed with climbing, hustling, or achieving, I’m instead focused more on thriving. On feeling like my personal life is in a good place. On doing work I find professionally fulfilling. I try to exercise kindness with myself, to set realistic goals that don’t overstretch me because I know that approach isn’t sustainable. If I can look myself in the mirror and feel proud of where I’ve been, who I am now, and where I’m headed, I know I’m on the right track.