Chasing someone else’s version of success is the fastest path to burnout. Full stop.

I see this all the time in our community. People looking at what everyone else is doing — their revenue numbers, their client roster, their conference speaking gigs — and deciding that must be the goal. Without ever stopping to ask: Is this actually what I want?

Here’s the thing. If you keep building toward someone else’s vision, you will keep feeling empty when you hit your milestones. And that is a really terrible way to run a business.

Real talk: Are you chasing the wrong goals?

Here’s how you know. You set a revenue goal. You hit it. And you feel… nothing. Or worse — you feel more pressure than before. Like you just added more to your plate without anything in your actual life getting better.

That’s the trap. You’re doing more, getting bigger, chasing bigger, better, faster, stronger — and you never stop to ask: What is the vision for this business? And am I actually moving toward it?

I’ll be honest with you. Early on, the financial goal on my vision board — yes, I make a Canva desktop wallpaper as my vision board, very on brand — came entirely from watching what other people in my industry were doing and deciding that was my goal too. And when I was practicing law, a big salary was absolutely the goal. That’s just what you were supposed to want.

But then life changed. I got married. I had kids. And that number stopped being the main vision for my company.

So I want to ask you something: Is your vision board full of things other people told you to want? Or is it a real picture of the business and the life you have decided you want — integrated together?

Start with your Tuesday, not your business plan

Here’s what I want you to do. Think about your ideal Tuesday. A random Tuesday. Be really specific. What are you doing? Where are you? How are you spending your time? What does your schedule look like? What level of freedom and flexibility feels right to you?

Get specific. Then work backwards. What does your business need to earn and look like to support that Tuesday?

For me — and I cannot say this enough — time freedom and flexibility is the goal. On any given Tuesday, I’m coaching my community for a couple of hours. I’ll have a client call. And I need to pick my son up early from school. I have that bandwidth because I’ve structured my days, and my business, to work exactly that way.

Give yourself permission to want small things.

For me, that’s picking up my kids at 3pm. I want to be the one to pick them up. Whether they want me to be the one picking them up — honestly at this point they’d probably prefer an Uber. They’re teenagers. That’s fine. But it matters to me.

I want light summers. I want light Fridays. I want a business that’s making multiple six figures a year that feels really easy and really good. Those goals are just as real and just as valid as “global domination in the PR realm.” They’re just mine. And I’m building toward them.

Your definition of success is allowed to change

Over 21 years in business, my definition of success has changed a lot. It changed when I had a newborn. It changed again when I had two kids under two. It changed when they were both in school and I finally felt like I could go all in — which, by the way, is when I built Jeneration Academy. An entirely different business. Different offering, different products, different team, different strategy. Built during that season because that season made it possible.

And now I’m in another season. High schoolers. A house under construction. One working toilet. And — I am not kidding you — a bucket with a garbage bag in it for my sons in the middle of the night. They will probably be in therapy about this. But my business right now is exactly what this season of my life needs. And that’s what I’m building toward.

Revisiting your definition of success doesn’t mean you failed. It doesn’t mean you were going the wrong direction. All of that experience is evidence. It’s information about what you actually want.

You’re allowed to change. Revisit it quarterly, revisit it yearly — whatever you need.

Audit what’s actually yours

Look at your business and ask two questions.

First: What work am I doing that’s actually in my zone of genius? That’s the work where time flies — it could be an hour, it could be seven hours — because you’re completely in the flow. You love it. It doesn’t feel like drudgery. It feels like yours.

Second: What is just noise? What have I said yes to that I already know isn’t it for me?

Because here’s what I want you to hear: just because a client asks for something doesn’t mean you have to say yes. Just because an opportunity looks impressive doesn’t mean it serves your life.

I’ve said no to paid speaking engagements in other cities. I’ve been invited to four-day conferences in Miami with real potential to meet prospective clients — and I’ve said no, because I know I could accomplish the same thing on Zoom without leaving my family. People say I’m an extrovert. I think I’m an extroverted introvert. Being in a room full of people chit-chatting for four days? At the end of it I need three days in my cocoon to recover. That’s just the truth.

If that’s you too — great, honor it. If you’re the opposite, someone who gets completely energized by being among people and knows that’s where you’ll grow your business — awesome, build around that. The point is to build around you. Not the internet’s version of what a successful agency owner looks like.

Before tactics, start with vision

Every time someone asks me “how do I get more clients?” I bring them back to the same place: vision. What does your ideal week actually look like? What kinds of clients do you want? What does your life need to look and feel like?

That is the foundation. That’s actually the foundation of the Agency Accelerator — we teach a ton of tactics, but without direction, without vision and strategy, tactics just make you busier. You do all the things. You go in a bunch of directions. And you don’t really know why.

I want you to build something you’re going to love in 21 years — like I do. After all this time, I’m still working with brands I truly believe in, who believe in us. That’s what matters most to me. Not the biggest team, not the most clients, not making the most money. The right clients. The right work. A business that feels like mine.

Not every opportunity that comes along has to be my responsibility. And not every client that comes along has to be my client.

That is not settling. That is clarity.

Your next step

If you’re ready to build something designed for the life you actually want — the flexibility, the freedom, the revenue goals, the feeling — start at jenerationacademy.com.

And grab the free Premium Positioning Audit at jenerationacademy.com/audit. It takes about five minutes, and it will finally tell you why the premium clients you want aren’t finding you — and give you the exact steps to change that.

Here’s what I love about it: it’s not the obvious stuff. It’s genuinely eye-opening. It looks at your messaging across all the places premium clients might discover you — your LinkedIn profile, your website, your social media, any bylines you’ve written — and shows you where you might not be consistent. Which matters for landing premium clients. And honestly, in the era of AI, it matters even more for how you show up in search.

It’s totally free. Go grab it. I’d love to hear what it surfaces for you.

Now go out there and crush it this week. I’ll be over here crushing it too.