Stop Moving the Goalposts
Daily Chase #147
The most dangerous trap in building a career isn’t failure - it’s never defining what success actually looks like.
We spend years chasing an undefined target. We think we’ll know when we get there. We assume the feeling of arrival will be obvious. But without a clear definition of “made it,” we just keep moving the goalposts.
You hit your income target, but then you see someone earning twice that. You built the client list you wanted, but now you’re comparing yourself to someone with a bigger following. You achieve the work-life balance you dreamed about, but social media shows you someone doing more with less effort.
This isn’t about lowering your standards or abandoning ambition. It’s about being intentional. Define what “made it” means before you’re constantly measuring yourself against other people’s highlight reels.
Do you wake up excited on Monday morning? Can you say no to work that doesn’t fit? Are you earning enough to live the life you want without constant stress? Do people seek out your expertise? Does your work have the capacity to fit into your life without overwhelming everything else?
These questions matter more than arbitrary comparisons to strangers on the internet.
Here’s the hard truth: if you don’t decide what the finish line looks like, you’ll spend your entire life running toward a target that keeps moving further away. The goalpost shifts every time you get close because you’re letting external voices define what matters.
Write down what “made it” means to you. Be specific. Then protect that definition from the noise telling you it’s not enough.
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