Many years ago, when I was still new to the speaking world, I was talking to a friend of mine. He’d been in the industry a lot longer than I had, and I was asking him for advice.

During our conversation I made an offhand comment about “Yeah, but you’re doing a lot more events than I am.”

He looked confused for a second and then said “No I’m not.”

“Really?” I asked, surprised.

“Yeah.” he said. “I’d rather do fewer events at a higher fee. That gives me more time at home to write, work on projects, and be with my friends.”

I know this will make me sound like an idiot, but I had never considered that idea before.

Before that conversation, I thought speaking success looked a certain way: do the same number of events, but increase your fee over time.
But my friend had a different version of success: make the same money, do fewer events, and have more time at home.

As I learned more about the industry, I realized that there are many paths to success:

• Some people aim for maximum revenue, while others aim for work/life balance.
• Some aim for specific types of events, while others will speak anywhere and everywhere.
• Some see speaking as their main business, while others speak to bring awareness, raise money for a cause they care about, or build their network.

None of these approaches are right or wrong. They’re just different.

The same is true of every idea on earth. Every project has multiple versions of success, and each will make sense for different people with different goals.

The problem is this: if you don’t know which goal you’re aiming at, you’ll end up measuring yourself by someone else’s yardstick. And that’s a perfect recipe for dissatisfaction. Moreover, as soon as you achieve "success", you'll go find a new, longer yardstick and start working towards measuring up on that one.

The antidote is to get specific from the beginning on what success looks like.
Not generally.
Not for other people.
For you.

Measure yourself against that yardstick.

I don’t know what you’re working on right now, but I can guarantee you there are many different versions of success.
Which version you’re optimizing for is a question only you can answer.

Happy Friday, friends. Make it a good one.

Kyle Scheele
Helping launch better ideas, faster
​www.KyleScheele.com​

P.S. My new book, How Ideas Work, goes into detail on exactly how to do this. Chapter 14 is all about how to intentionally set goals for your ideas, how to handle trade-offs, and how to know when you've done what you set out to do. You can preorder a copy here. ​