Many people imagine their ideas and dreams are unattainable so what’s the point in even starting! Especially women feel they don’t have the skills, the confidence, the resources nor the time to make things happen. And other things always come in the way.

When frustration mounts, it’s better to look at the opportunities than run a round like a headless chicken avoiding the key question: what if success looks a little different for me?

Success is likely to be much closer than you think. The trick is to stop chasing what you think other people might think success looks like or might want you to think what success looks like. 

Here’s a list of things we know women describe as success:

Feeling braver today than yesterday
Enjoying a peaceful walk in the park without being constantly disrupted by thoughts of chores or responsibilities
Feeling fabulous in a beautiful dress
Making the first sale in their new business
Creating their first online course
Finding the courage to share their idea in a company meeting

Success doesn’t have to look like a Ferrari.

Move past “I don’t know what I want.”

Not knowing what your dream or goal looks like is a bad excuse to do nothing. Ask yourself would you like to feel more courageous or have more time for yourself in the future? We all can improve our lives but for it to happen the journey starts right now. Being stuck is much worse than doing something (anything!) about it.

There’s just one catch: Your happiness doesn’t fall from the sky. When you start exploring what it is you want each step will inform the next and soon you have much more clarity on your goals. Stick to a process and you will get there!

You don’t have to have all the answers.

Many people are so used to showing everyone they are tough and can make it alone that they have mistaken ploughing through with being successful. Sleepless nights and near burn-out are unlikely to bring you happiness. 

Lots of other people have figured some of the hard parts of creating ‘bigger life’ and meaningful success. Use their lessons! Give yourself every advantage to save time and avoid mistakes. When you join a community like DrivenWoman full of other ambitious women you will learn from others everyday!

Get honest about what’s stopping you.

We often get emails from women who claim they’d like to work on their goals but have “No time”… There’s the family, job, bad boss, volunteering, sick mother, new puppy… You get the idea. Maybe they just don’t want to make any changes to their lives. Maybe their ideas and goals will happen magically without a framework or a process.

Don’t wait for the stars to be aligned.

Many women are convinced that they WILL start working on their ideas and aspirations but need something to happen FIRST. “When I quit my job I will start my business.” or “When the kids are in school I will start writing my book.” 

They think that there’s a special moment in time when it “makes sense” to start something they always wanted. Unfortunately that special date will never come. What will happen is that days will turn into weeks and weeks into months and so on. You must start your next chapter before you are ready to fully embrace it.

Embrace small steps to big goals.

The reason you can start working on your dreams today is that you only have to start doing something very, very small. Everyone can find the tiniest step that involves taking absolutely no risk that they can put into action straight away. This is the step you can take whilst still in your current job/marriage/house/country/business.

Creating your ‘bigger life’ is not about getting that ‘Ferrari’ but feeling that you are making progress and becoming more true to yourself with each step. Only ego wants things to be big and flashy straight away and see no success in making progress. What is stopping you from taking that small step today?

Focus on the things that could go RIGHT.

Many people are so focused on everything that could go wrong that they rather stay stuck and feel overwhelmed than make any changes to their lives. It’s a lonely prison!

Learn to see when you are stopping your own progress and making decisions out of fear rather than opportunity. When you surround yourself with other women who are learning to embrace the unknown and are loving it it is much easier to start believing in a brighter future that can materialise much faster than you think!

It’s not enough to “think about” starting a journey. 

How long have you been reading our articles? How long have you been “trying to figure it out”? If you want to start living a ‘bigger life’, if you want to start showing up fully and find out who you really are, put time and money behind it. Make a decision to start the journey today.

What would happen if you allowed your definition to success to be a little more gentle? What if your success would look like YOU? Would it make starting a journey to something greater a little easier?

-Miisa Mink

DrivenWoman is a social platform connecting women who want to achieve their goals and dreams.  Thousands of women around the world have joined our program and are achieving their life goals supported by one another.  Join our FREE community the Doers Tribe.