You're Measuring Success Wrong

Hey honeys and hustlers,

Let’s go back in time when things seemed simpler. As I inched closer to my 30th birthday, I decided to take my health more seriously. I knew I wouldn’t be a 20-something forever, and I wanted to be more intentional about incorporating regular body movement into my routine. I got a bike in 2022, the first bike I’d ever purchased with my own money. Shortly after, I purchased a Garmin watch to track my steps and bike rides. I went on the Camino de Santiago last summer, which accounted for over 300K steps in 30 days. Biking and walking regularly was great for my mental health, but it didn’t feel physically rigorous enough. When the weather started to get a little cold and rainy, I was also a little more reluctant to go outside, which brought all my consistency to a halt. One fateful night, the night of Black Friday, I decided to see what promotions nearby gyms were having. I stumbled upon a place called The Sweat Lab and signed up for the very next class (aka the class that started at 8AM that following Saturday morning). Ever since “trying it out,” I’ve gone 2-3 times per week without fail. One day, without thinking about it, I stopped wearing my Garmin watch.

I realized that the thing I had been using to measure my physical productivity, wasn’t correlating to the results I wanted. Has anyone ever felt that way before? Like maybe, just maybe, all the complicated things we do to analyze what’s working and what’s not, could be boiled down to a much simpler process? We see big numbers all the time.

• How much money someone makes.

• How many pounds someone has lost on their weight loss journey.

• How many followers or subscribers they have.

• How many impressions they get per month on social media.

While it feels like the best way to measure success is the hours we put in, how many steps we take, how many calories we eat, how many words we write, how many meetings we have, or how many emails we respond to the real results we seek may be measured by something totally different. Through my own subconscious decision and conversations with women much wiser than myself (read = my mom and my therapist) I realized that how I measured success was changing, and rightfully so.

I don’t go to the gym 2-3 times per week because I always feel like it or because my schedule is always clear; I go because I’m committed to the habit of incorporating rigorous exercise into my weekly routine. Whether I feel like it or not. Whether it’s convenient or not. I don’t post 2 videos per week, 2 newsletters per week, and daily content on Linkedin because it’s easy and I like hearing myself talk (though I have gotten used to hearing my voice). I do it because I’m committed to building original storytelling brands. Each published video, podcast, and newsletter is a step toward that goal.

I’ll be sharing my 1st quarter retroactive look at the things I measure in my business on the premium version of this newsletter. Upgrade to paid to check that own when it drops.

It feels easy to go down the productivity rabbit hole of YouTube, podcasts, and books to find and refine the systems and tools that will help you track your progress toward your goals (not speaking from experience or anything). But real success is measured in results, not attempts at results. Commit to habits and completing projects that move the needle over time through the accumulation of effort, overcoming challenges, and experience (rather than theory based on the experiences of others). I’m willing to bet that if I asked you what one thing you could be doing right now that would change the likelihood of you achieving one goal you have for yourself, you’d know the answer, you just may not want to commit to doing it. Committing can be hard, uncomfortable, and at times, an investment.

You can do hard things. You can delay gratification. You can….check out this next guest on Honey & Hustle for a little motivation.

Onto this week’s podcast guest

Angela Salamanca is our most recent guest on the Honey & Hustle podcast. She’s the founder of multiple restaurants in the Triangle: Ex-Voto, Centro, and Gallo Pelon. Her story embodies committing to your goals, even when life gets hard. We talked about her experience as an immigrant, learning to ask for help, and what she thinks of agave (I promise you’ll want to try some mezcal after this). You can watch or listen to the new episode below.

You can also check it out on Apple Podcasts.

In addition to having one of the best names on earth, Angela shared one of the most vulnerable stories I’ve heard on Honey & Hustle yet. Her story of losing her sister at such a young age and still having to find her way in life had me fighting back tears. Entrepreneurship will always have some level of stress, and when you’re building something bigger than yourself, you have to learn to lean on other people. To help her have a healthy relationship with herself and her work, she incorporated her culture and nature into her weekly routine through the ofrenda at her restaurant and running. Those two things take center stage at the annual Day of the Dead 5K that Centro and their community partner, Brentwood Boys and Girls Club, host.

Sharing her love of cooking, food, and community is intrinsic to her business and mission of inclusion. More than anything, I was surprised to hear that she not only has another venture (I mean seriously, where does she find the time?!), but that she’s still struggling to get approved for a business loan. After 3 restaurants and with the addition of Latine-owned banks in the Triangle, she’s still facing challenges in realizing this new business venture. She doesn’t seem worried about it, because as she puts it:

It’s an honor to share Angela’s powerful story of loss and hope with you — may it help you along your creative and entrepreneurship journey (or as you go out for your next run or mezcal tasting!).

P.S. If you’d like to be featured in this newsletter:

1. Rate the podcast on Spotify, review it on Apple Podcasts, or leave a video testimonial here.

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P.P.S. I have a new video course I’m working on (it’ll be my first)! It’s called, MFA - Mastering Freelance Accelerator. It’s a 30-day course for creators to accelerate their entrepreneurship journey. If you’d like to be the first to know when it’s live, reply to this and I’ll add you to the waitlist.

Please Hustle Responsibly,

🤙🏾✨

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