In my last podcast episode, I talked about setting big external goals and how it’s great to reach high, but it can become dangerous when those goals become your definition of success.
I want us all to achieve big, challenging goals and create our dream lives. But I don't want external accomplishments to be my definition of success or yours because placing our worth in things outside of ourselves is dangerous. External achievements, numbers, things, and circumstances can all change, disappear, break down or not happen for you in the first place. So if you define your success by those things, you risk losing your sense of self-worth if you don't attain them.
Today is a bit of an extension on that episode. Today, I want us to talk about how much income is enough.
As I said, it's OK to set big goals for things like this if you want to. There are no limits except the limits you create in your mind. That said, I see a trend in the world of online business when it comes to how we think about money.
There tend to be two camps:
The group of people who are constantly hungry for more, bigger and better. Their hunger is never satisfied. They’re always hustling. And for some, money seems like their priority in life.
The people who are making just enough to scrape by and can't possibly imagine a way to earn more than that without extreme hustle. Some even villainize the people who earn more by calling them greedy or materialistic.
I believe there can be a middle ground. A balance between always chasing more money and living like a starving artist. And the only way I know of getting there is determining how much money you need to live your desired lifestyle, and learning to be content when you reach it, instead of always wanting more because the world tells you that if you’re not always growing, you’re dying.
How much money is a lot of money? That depends on your perspective...
What is a lot of money to one person, may not be a lot to another.
To someone who makes less than £10k a year, £100k may seem like a lot of money.
But to someone who makes £100k, £1,000,000 may be their definition of a lot of money.
I don't want us to get caught up on the numbers. Because what is a lot to someone all depends on perspective and things like...
How you were raised to think about money. Were you told money is the root of all evil? Or, were you taught that having a lot of money and an impressive job title is what makes you successful in life?
The cost of living in your area. You can probably live like a queen in Thailand for £1k per month. You wouldn't even get a studio flat the size of a shoebox for £1k in London.
How much money you need to live your desired lifestyle. For example, Sam is a single person whose dream is to move out of her parent’s house, comfortably live in London on her own, and make enough to save £500 a month and invest £1000 a month for her future. Monique may be married so she splits the bills with her partner, and her dream lifestyle may be to live in a 3 bedroom house in the suburbs, go on holiday once a year, and save £200 a month. What is enough money for Monique to fulfill her desired lifestyle may not be enough for Sam because they have different circumstances, costs of living, and desires.
Instead of judging or comparing income goals, what if we acknowledged that it all just comes down to individual perspective, mindset and circumstance?
A goal that seems too high or low for someone else, may feel like the perfect balance of challenging and attainable to you.
How much income is enough?
There's no hard and fast rule for how much income is enough because what is enough is different for all of us.
I think it's important to know YOUR unique Enough Goal.
Instead of looking around the online business space at six and seven-figure businesses and deciding that's what your income goal SHOULD be because those are the only figures that seem to be viewed as "successful", learn what income goal is enough for YOU and the life YOU want.
It may be six figures, it may not. There's no right or wrong. The number itself isn't important because if you can make £10k, you can make £100k. It's a matter of perspective. What IS important is:
That you don't choose an income goal based on other people's ideas of what a successful income is.
You choose an income goal that enables you to live YOUR desired lifestyle.
You let that be enough instead of getting there, reaching it, and constantly thirsting for more. Allow yourself to settle into what having enough feels like.
You keep money in its place. You don’t make it a priority above more important things in your life, like your well-being, family, faith, health, etc.
Your Enough Goal may not be six or seven figures. It could be £30k, £60k, £80k, etc. Just by deciding to figure out your unique income goal instead of choosing the goals of others, you could end up realizing that you can take on fewer clients in the year and still make all the money you need to live the life you want. Instead of striving for an income goal you don't need, you could end up enjoying enough income AND have more time to do the things you love.
And if you DO need to make six figures to live your desired lifestyle, that's OK too. It's OK if your Enough Goal is six figures. YOU get to decide whether to simplify your life to bring that Enough Goal down, or upgrade your money mindset and marketing so that you can reach your Enough Goal without hustle or crazy work hours.
"OK Nesha, I realized six figures is my enough goal. Should I simplify my life to lower that goal, or upgrade my mindset and go for it?"
Only you know the answer to that question, but I can help you figure it out:
When you think about that six-figure goal, how do you feel?
You’ll almost definitely feel scared but is excitement also present? Or does it just feel like a millstone around your neck?
Does it make you feel determined, challenged and empowered, or anxious and stressed?
Does it take over your mind and become the main thing you think or worry about? Or is it a goal you are healthily detached from?
Business gurus in the "more, more, more" camp will always tell you that if you feel anxious and stressed about a money goal, it's because of your limiting beliefs and you need to upgrade them.
And yeah, maybe that's true in some instances.
However, it could be that your business and income aren't a very high priority in your life right now, and striving for a bigger income goal just doesn't feel like something that excites or motivates you. Maybe you'd rather spend your time doing something else. If that's the case, I see no problem in simplifying your desired lifestyle and the income you need to make it happen. There's no point in striving for an incredibly higher income goal to help you achieve your dream lifestyle if you aren't going to enjoy the journey. A huge part of living your dream lifestyle IS the journey. You may feel better striving for an income goal that is below six figures and feels attainable but still challenging.
On the flip side, business coaches in the slow living space often villainize those who want to make six or seven figures. Sometimes they'll insinuate that aiming high is materialistic.
To that, I'd say...
If your six-figure goal feels challenging, scary and exciting without feeling totally overwhelming and out of alignment with what you really want.
This goal is in its place (i.e. it doesn't take priority over things like your family, health, faith, etc)
Then what's so wrong with it?
Oftentimes, someone doesn't have to work any harder or longer to make six figures than they did to make £30k. It's more about a perspective and positioning shift.
Related Post: It’s Hard To Make Six Figures Without Doing This First
I'm a Christian woman and my first ever accountant was a man of faith. I remember us hopping on a Zoom call once - my income had grown and he was encouraging me to remember to keep life simple and not overly prioritize riches, which I appreciated.
I didn’t need to justify my income, but I replied, "I'm not chasing wealth above all else. I haven't worked any more than I did last year and I don't prioritize money any more than I did last year. My income has grown because my mindset and audience have grown."
Making a good living doesn’t have to mean you can’t also be a humble, down to earth person.
You can make a good living AND ALSO be humble.
You can make a good living AND ALSO not value money above all else.
You can make a good living AND ALSO be a person of faith. (The woman in Proverbs 31 had three profitable businesses. Three! She invested in real estate, made and sold clothing, and owned her own vineyard. And God called her capable, hard-working, confident, profitable, generous to the poor, valuable, trustworthy, and wise.)
Related Post: From Newbie Freelancer to Six Figure Design Studio
Making a good living doesn't automatically make you greedy or materialistic.
What does?
Prioritizing money and possessions above all else. And you don't need to have a lot of money to get caught in that trap.
“Enough, Better, Best” Goals + Why I'm Simplifying My Life & Lowering My “Enough Goal”
You may have heard of Good, Better, Best goals in the world of online business. I prefer to create Enough, Better, Best goals because knowing my Enough goal grounds me. Comforts me. Reminds me that I often don’t need as much as I think to have enough to live the life of my dreams. When I exceed it, it reminds me to be grateful for the abundance in my life.
You may have heard in this podcast episode about my 2022 goals that I wanted my income to stay the same as last year. I think I even said it in my previous episode on defining your own version of success.
However, I’ve decided to lower my Enough and Better goal and I want to talk you through how I came to that decision.
First, I’ve spent a while now focusing on my mental health, going to therapy, and implementing the tools I learn there in my everyday life. (It’s been an up and down journey but it’s really helping me and I can’t recommend going to therapy enough!)
In this episode, I spoke about being diagnosed with OCD and how OCD recovery is my biggest focus of 2022. My business is not one of my top three priorities this year, and I’m OK with that.
Or so I thought.
I began to feel waves of panic and anxiety when I stepped back from my business long enough to see that *shock horror* it wasn’t performing as well as it would if I was more focused on it.
I noticed myself becoming a bit obsessive over my numbers. Income numbers, projections, my podcast downloads… I was being obsessive over all of it. And as a result, I felt anxious and stressed.
I took that as a sign to realign again with my priorities and well-being.
Remember I said my way of determining if an ambitious goal is going to be a healthy challenge or an unhealthy pursuit was to analyze how it makes you feel?
Well, after a week or two of feeling stressed and anxious, I asked myself:
What is the simplest solution here?
And it was to lower my income goals and take some of the pressure off myself so I could focus on my OCD recovery and general well-being again. (And also have space to rebuild a lot of the backend of my business and redirect where I want it to go in the long run.)
If I lower my goal, I won’t feel as much pressure to reach it. It should be easier to reach and allow me to not be so hard on myself.
I’m still open and happy to make the same figure I made last year. If that happens, that’s awesome! But if I have to de-prioritize my mental health to reach it, it just isn’t worth it to me. I’d rather earn less this year by simplifying my life and therefore the amount of income I need. Then come back stronger next year, ready and prepared to reach my regular income goal.
Online entrepreneurs never talk about aiming lower. It often feels like it’s a big failure with a capital F for entrepreneurs to even consider aiming for the same amount as last year and NOT want to 5x their income.
But as someone who has battled with mental health for most of her life, I know the darkness you can find yourself surrounded by. And I know that my mental health trumps my business all day every day.
I believe everything in life is seasonal, including business.
There are times when we are going to feel excited and healthily challenged by setting big business goals and that’s wonderful!
But there are also times when we have to step back and focus on other life goals, and that’s wonderful too.
My new “Enough, Better, Best” goals are:
Enough: £85k / ap. $111,500
Better: £101k / ap. $132,500
Best: £120k / ap. $150,000
At first, lowering my Enough goal to below six figures (in £’s) made me panic.
“Everyone knows I’m a six-figure business. If I aim lower and only make £85k then does that make me a fraud? Does it mean I’m letting my business die??”
These were my kind of thoughts.
I want to preface this by saying that I understand £85k / $111k is a lot to some. I know that most in my audience make under £10k. But please understand that perspective comes into play here. What is a lot to someone may not be a lot to someone else.
If I aim a little lower now, I can focus on my mental health and also focus on the back end of my business so that next year, both my income and I can come back stronger. (Did you know I’m also renovating a 45 foot narrowboat that I plan to live in, off grid? That’s one of my priorities this year too! You can follow my tiny home renovation journey on Instagram and Youtube!)
In my business, I plan to use most of this financial year to make at least £85k and make changes to my business on the backend so that in my next financial year:
I’m less reliant on social media and more reliant on search engines and automated marketing. I’m halfway there already because half of my marketing is automated. But I have a love/hate relationship with social media. So as much as Instagram will continue to be a pillar in my marketing, I want to make sure that if I decide to delete Instagram one day, my business will be fine.
My evergreen income increases so I don’t have to rely on clients or as many launches for cash injections. At the moment, my evergreen incomes makes up approximately 65% of my income. I want to be able to reach my Enough Goal of £85k on evergreen income alone (i.e. course sales that come in through my automated sales machine) so that any launch income is a bonus.
I have a lot of secret plans for Simple Sales School. There’s a lot that I want to do with it! In 2021 I released the first iteration of it. But now, I have more clarity on what exactly I want this course to help business owners do, what changes I want to make to it, and the direction I want to take it.
Ultimately, I’ve decided to lower my goal in the hopes that what I do now behind the scenes (for my mental health and my business) will reap rewards next year. Namely: quieter OCD, a traffic strategy that is less reliant on Instagram, and an updated program that feels impactful, exciting, aligned, and hits my Enough Goal with evergreen sales alone.
Sometimes, you need to lower your goals and put off instant gratification for long-term success and happiness.
Related Post: Discomfort Is A Requirement For Growth
Sometimes, you lower your goals for your mental health.
Sometimes, you do it because you realize you CAN aim lower and STILL live your dream lifestyle.
Other times, you aim higher because it feels fun and challenging, that's naturally where your business flows, or your cost of living increased.
Remember: business is seasonal.
There will be seasons where you will crave the challenge of growth.
Seasons where you’re happy to remain at the same level.
And seasons where you are content with less whilst you focus on other areas of life or on restructuring your business foundation to reap rewards in the future.
I believe that as long as your income goal isn’t based on other people’s goals and it doesn’t take priority over the real important things in life, you can make your income goal whatever you like.
Nesha XO
PS - I know no one comments on blog posts anymore, so DM me and tell me your thoughts from this post! Would you like me to write more?
Free Masterclass: The 10 Step Process That Helped Me Work LESS Hours & Make An Extra $200k
About Nesha
Hey there! I’m Nesha, host of The Simple Business Show. I teach creatives how to build profitable online businesses without the hustle and crazy work hours so they can live the freedom-filled lifestyle they dream of. When I’m not working, you’ll find me sipping caramel macchiatos at Starbucks, reading personal growth books, or traveling the world with my backpack and my laptop!
Looking for more ways I can help you? Here they are:
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