The Quest For Home Business Success

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When most of us dive into our first home business venture, we are filled with visions of wealth, comfort, security and freedom. We have a general idea of where wed like to end up financially, and we work hard to get there. Some of us make it there quickly, while others may take a little longer. But at what point would we consider ourselves to be successful? Once were earning a million dollars a year? Once we can afford that mansion weve had our eye on? Once were wearing designer clothing? Of course, success means different things to different people.

Perhaps to you, success means earning a little extra money to help with household extras. To me it might mean earning more. To someone else, success might have nothing to do with money at all. They might strive for professional or personal accomplishments. The meaning of success can vary from person to person, as can our beliefs about what it takes to truly be successful.

I had an interesting experience last week. I submitted a request for work at home success stories to be featured on my website, and the response was quite surprising. Not one response. Thats right, zero! I submitted this request to several popular work-at-home communities, and I purposely placed no restrictions on what success meant. I was quite surprised by the lack of response. Are there NO work at home successes out there? I dont believe that for a minute; I know there are many, MANY people working successfully from home. So why wouldnt they want to be featured? What could prevent them from believing they qualify as a success story?

Income - Many of us dont feel successful until were raking in massive amounts of money and can afford to buy whatever we want without glancing at the price tag. While money is certainly one measure of success, it isnt the only one. Most of us have an idea of how much wed like to be earning from our home businesses, but does it mean were not successful until we reach that point? Of course not! We can be successful regardless of how much we earn. Just because you are earning $500 a month instead of $50,000 doesnt mean youre not a success. In order to earn $50,000, you must first earn $500!

Status - If we havent quite reached the level were striving for in our home businesses, we may not allow ourselves to feel like a success. Once I get 1,000 customers, then Ill be successful, we say. Or once we get 100,000 subscribers to our newsletter, or hire our first employees. Whatever status were trying to reach, we place requirements upon ourselves and wont consider ourselves successful until we meet them. The problem with this is that home businesses (or businesses in general) are not static. We dont just get there and then call it good. We will always be striving to gain more customers, recruit more agents, sell more products, earn more money, set goals and reach them. We will always be pushing ourselves to do more, be more. This is a good thing!

Perfectionism - We are so much harder on ourselves than we are on anyone else. Does one little thing keep you from feeling like a success? Perhaps youre earning as much as you want to with your home business, but there are also things you struggle with. Like organization, finances, or coming up with new ideas and seeing them through. Rather than thinking of yourself as successful, you allow those little things you dont do perfectly to hold you back. You berate yourself, I would be successful if it wasnt for my messy filing system! or Will I ever learn how to do this right? No one is perfect. We all have things were good at, and other things were not so good at. Accept that about yourself. Its really not important to do everything so perfectly. We can only do our best and have fun with it.

Modesty - Its true that no one likes a braggart. Perhaps the people who read my request didnt want to appear boastful or conceited by submitting a success story. While modesty is a good thing, is it possible to carry it too far? Does being modest mean we cant take pride in our own accomplishments? Does it mean we have to hide our success? No. There is a very big difference between sharing our success and bragging about it. Braggers try to make themselves appear better than others and put themselves up on a pedestal, while people who share their success in a genuine way strive to inspire others. By sharing our successes, we encourage people to make their own success stories! We demonstrate that it is indeed possible to be successful working from home. What a gift that is!

You may be surprised to learn the actual definition of Success: 1) a favorable result; 2) the gaining of wealth, fame, etc. Most of us use the second definition more often than the first. But take a close look at that first definition. A favorable result. How easy is it to attain a favorable result? Very! Just because your results may not be as large as youd like them to be doesnt mean youre not successful. If youve attained ANY favorable results, you are a Success!

The most important aspect of success is believing we deserve it. So many of us struggle with worthiness issues. Some of us were told as children that wed never amount to anything; we internalized that message and continue to carry it with us to this day. Others might be afraid to try because weve never felt quite good enough. As soon as we start working toward our goals, self-doubts come creeping in and our inner critic starts harping at us: Who are you kidding? You dont have what it takes to be successful. Just give it up and get a real job! So we sabotage ourselves, create obstacles to block our way, and continue our never-ending quest for success.

The truth is, we will only be as successful as we ALLOW ourselves to be. The human mind has amazing power. Whatever we consistently tell ourselves is what we will create in our lives. If we dont believe we deserve success, we will avoid it (even though we trick ourselves into believing were working toward it). If we tell ourselves were not good enough, we will act in ways that prevent good things from happening to us. The good news is that this also works in reverse. If we tell ourselves were successful, we will be. If we keep affirming that were good enough, strong enough, capable enough, we will be. Think about the significance of that. It means its ALL WITHIN OUR CONTROL. Whatever we want to be, we can.

Dont be afraid to embrace your success, no matter how small you perceive it to be. Remember, any favorable result equals Success!