The LIFESTYLE That Working Online AFFORDS Me (It Can Be Yours Too!)
How Do You Measure Success?
This is not "one of those" types of blog posts about working online.
Nothing here about bling and making a ton load of money. But, it could be. If that is how you measure success.
I do not measure it that way.
My gauge is time. Only time.
As simple as that sounds, that IS my success measure.
Time To Travel
Yesterday, I had to attend a meeting in the south of our island. The drive is about 45 to 60 minutes each way. My meeting started at 10:30 a.m. and ended at 12:30 p.m.
It is a drive I enjoy, especially when I have the time to absorb the scenery while listening to my favourite music.
I calculated that, given no delays on the highway, I would have about 1 to 2 hours to get back into the city to meet my daughter, Zafirah after school.
We had a date. But, I digress.
Heavy rain started to fall after my meeting and I was not compelled to hit the highway in that weather. We were not blessed with rain like that for months and I wanted to bask in the joy of every drop.
I was also hungry after fasting for about 12 hours.
Time For Tea
One of the best Dim Sum restaurants in our country is in the South and I do not get there enough. So, that is where I went!
I was warmly greeted and seated on the outside balcony where I could see, feel and hear the beauty of the rain.
No Jasmine Tea, so I enjoyed some Chamomile and ordered my favourites off the Dim Sum menu.
PHOTO ABOVE: Har Gau, Su Mai and Xiao Long Bao with Gān jú chá
For over an hour, I enjoyed my own company, the rain and all my thoughts and feelings about my plans for the upcoming Christmas Season and the year ahead.
It was blissful!
Time To Give
I made it back to the city in good time, met my daughter, grabbed a few drinks and headed to our Northern Range to visit with her family, bearing some wonderful gifts for her 1-year-old cousin, Bryce.
It was a fun evening walking through the village and watching Bryce rummage through all his new toys - and boxes. 🤣
We both enjoy giving, especially to those who value and appreciate their blessings. Bryce is always happy to see us.
The joy we experienced is priceless.
Time To Design My Lifestyle
Being a Member of our Wealthy Affiliate (WA) Community for the past 4 years has afforded me the opportunity to design my life and lifestyle the way I want them.
Time has become my most valuable commodity and I will not trade it for anything else in the world.
As I write this WA blog post in my Home Office, I have the time to take a break to enjoy my homemade meals, listen to music and podcasts, do research for my next website article, and call my sister in Miami to tell her that I love and miss her or laugh at a funny note my daughter sent me a minute ago.
I have TIME!
My TIME!
Time To Change Your Script!
It was not a smooth ride getting to this Congruent Point.
I had to Change My Script many times along the way and I will have to many times more as I continue to move forward.
But, I know that it is possible to enjoy success and that makes the future much more engaging.
Change Happens at the Congruent Point.
If you are not yet there, take some time to understand what you need to do to Change Your Script.
Cassi
Recent Comments
84
Time is a very precious commodity!
Your blog post reminds me of one of my favorite quotes,
"Time is free, but, it's priceless. You can't own it, but you can use it. You can't keep it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it, you can never get it back." - Harvey Specter, Suits
I don't measure success by boatloads of cash either. Sure, it's wonderful to be comfortable.
But, have I ever thought that making all my dreams come true is done with money, and owning a mansion with that money? NO!
You can buy all the material things in the world if you have boatloads of money, but, that won't bring you true happiness.
True happiness is a life well lived, and time well spent, doing the things you truly love to do, like spending time with your family, your kids, nieces and nephews, eating and cooking good food, enjoying the rain, and the scenic route, traveling, making time for tea, and giving to others.
It's spending your time, the way you truly wish to spend it.
I love that you have changed your script, and made it to your congruent point. And I think it's also important to note that it's okay if you feel the need to change the script several times before you feel you have a really good one.
Sometimes, tweaking the script hundreds of times, is what needs to be done, before we can really sit back and see that we have a good thing working for us.
And, making mistakes along the way is all part of that whole journey. It's the only way we learn, and grow, to be able to get to that congruent point.
This is a very well-written article, and I'm so happy you've made it to your congruent point Cassi. Congratulations!
Wishing you all the success you truly deserve going forward!
And I hope we all make it to our congruent point one day! :)
-Cal
Couldn't agree more Cal. My wife and I moved to Canada'a east coast lasts spring...one acre surrounded by thick bush. Tilled up a garden. It is quiet...all you can hear is the wind thru the trees and the birds...Life is so much simpler now and, frankly, I don't understand why we didn't do this sooner...wouldn't trade the simple life for the world...
❤️ (My Love Button, until we get one.)
Hi Cal,
This will become one of my treasured comments.
It is an excellent summary and absolutely on point!
We each have to make our own choices, fail and fall many times to learn and get back up.
The latter is the most challenging in life and keeps many of us from arriving at our Congruent Point(s).
Thank you for your kind feedback and encouragement.
I wish you continued success.
Cassi
@coachgrant oooh that sounds absolutely lovely! And so peaceful! I live in a small rural town with my partner, but I grew up on a third-generation farm of 20 acres.
My parents still live there, and will never sell it, haha! That is their little slice of heaven on earth.
They plant a huge vegetable and herb garden every spring and my mom plants flower gardens.
Their farm is surrounded by wildlife, on the side of the property there is a swamp, but, it is a bustling ecosystem of many different varieties of birds, bullfrogs, and home to many beavers, muskrats, etc in the winter season.
Frequently you'll wake up and look out one of the house windows and there will be 5-10 white-tail deer standing in the front yard, or one of our fields.
It's beautiful there! The simpler life is much less stressful, and with the times we're in currently, I wouldn't thank you for a busy downtown apartment or condo in a big city.
If times ever get tough, you'll want to have a garden, a few chickens, and a wood stove, haha! All the important things to keep yourself warm, and your tummy full.
Nothing wrong with that at all! :)
Aww, thank you, Cassi!
We each have our own choices to make. Failing along the way is all part of the learning curve.
It is the most difficult part of the journey, but, it is also the most rewarding in the end.
I'm learning that this is also true in life in general. My sister just recently a few months ago had her first child.
And I'm not a "kid" person myself in terms of ever wanting my own children. But, seeing my sister go from being reasonably happily "expecting" a child...
To now living the reality of taking care of that little human bean, haha... Has been a real eye-opener.
It's difficult! Really difficult! I have such a newfound perspective and respect for parents.
The first few weeks after having her newborn at home were the most difficult for me to watch.
The emotional rollercoaster my sister went through, the sleepless nights, waking up every 3 hours to pump milk to feed her... Wow... that's a TON of work, and emotionally and mentally very draining for a new mom.
She's now saying things to my mom like "Does laundry ever end? I can't believe this little human has so many clothes and goes through so many outfits in a single day." Haha!
But, through it all, my niece is 5 months old now, and my sister couldn't be happier.
Despite all the difficult times she's had to go through with her baby up until now, she still says it's 100% worth it.
If my sister, like me, really looked at having a child and realized how truly difficult that would be in reality, she might never have decided to start a family.
It's something you're never truly ready for, even if you think you are. It's absolutely terrifying, and the bumps in the road along the way, can often be very difficult, and challenging.
But, you can't have the good without the bad, right?
True love never comes without some heartache/ heartbreak along the way.
Starting a family doesn't come without morning sickness, sleepless nights, and constant worry for a mother, and parents in general.
Starting a new business doesn't come without its ups and downs of economic downturns, failures, and/or mistakes.
You can't be happy unless you've known what it's like to feel really sad.
You can't feel satisfied unless you've known what it's like to feel empty.
There are so many things that my sister thought she knew about starting a family, (she's a fully certified daycare worker at her usual 9-5 job).
And even having worked in a daycare for about 5-7 years now, that still didn't prepare her for having a child of her own.
She still makes mistakes, learns, and grows. She's doing a really good job, and I'm really proud of her. Parenthood is no easy feat.
But, at the end of the day, she still says with all the difficulty that parenthood comes with, it's still 100% worth it.
I believe business is the same, there'll be bad times and difficulty, but, it's 100% worth it.
The only difference is in business, your drive is the passion for your niche, whereas in parenting, it's the love you have and will continue to gain for your child and family.
I included a couple of photos of my niece. Her name is Wren. :)
Wishing you continued success as well Cassi!
Wren is adorable, Cal and I love the analogy of parenting.
You are quite correct.
Thank you so very much for sharing this.
Cassi
Great point Cassie...Yes we can define success in different ways as you quite rightly point out. I think many of us have grown weary of the hectic pace of life and are starting to realize how valuable time is. The amount of time we have on this wonderful earth plane is not unlimited after all. For me, my wife and I lost a dog in 2020. It was heartbreaking. We have two lovely boys now and I cherish every moment I spend with them...
I feel your pain, Grant.
Our dogs have always been an integral part of our family.
The joy they bring to us is unparalleled.
In 2020, I lost my Mum and that rocked me to the core.
The pain never heals but over time, we learn how to manage it.
I wish you continued blessings.
Cassi
🐛 Change Happens at the Congruent Point. 🦋
Hi Cassi,
My benchmark for success is how sincerely happy you are. It looks like you are very happy doing what you are doing. Owning your time gives that feeling. Congrats!
When we are pursuing a goal that can be a very happy time. Once achieved, there is a feeling of what is next.
That dim sum looked delicious!
Keep soaring Cassi.
Edwin
The Dim Sum was divine, Edwin!
I love the food there and really should drive down more often.
I agree with you.
At the end of the day, it is about the feelings of joy and happiness tipping the scale.
How is your cruise progressing?
Cassi
🐛 Change Happens at the Congruent Point. 🦋
Good morning Cassi,
Thank you for another genuine and true blog post.
This is an excellent way to measure your success, it's not all about money, freedom and flexibility of time is a wonderful thing!
I have been self-employed for 40 years, which is as good as all my working life! It's good to be reminded of that freedom we have, which can sometimes be taken for granted. That's not to say that I haven't worked hard, because I have and often days can be long. However, I do love the flexibility, I don't think I could do those dreary nine till five days, every day!
It's great that you have been able to design your lifestyle, Cassi! But the great thing is that you are designing it for the future; you are growing your business and having flexibility at the same time! How great is that?
Today I have a network meeting in London, it's something that I haven't done for many years. This is a totally new meeting, so I won't know anyone, as such. However, the great thing is, I didn't have to ask for time off, I just arranged it myself on my calendar.
I believe that it's important to continually look at our script and change when necessary!
Have a great day.
Roy's
How exciting to be networking with new people, Roy!
That means new opportunities may be in your bucket soon. 😉
I admire your resilience and your ability to make Entrepreneurship a success.
You are in a very rare group.
Let me know how your event unfolded.
Cassi
🐛 Change Happens at the Congruent Point. 🦋
Thank you, Cassi, that's exactly what I thought! I really do like the idea of mixing with like-minded people and people who have a zest for life.
Thank you for your kind words, Cassi, I think it's important that we try and make the most of life. I do value time and I think it's good to try and take advantage of opportunities in the right sort of way.
Can you believe, this event didn't actually happen, well, the event did, but I didn't go! Only because I had a meeting in London, prior to the event, which overran, but some other good things happened. I have now rebooked for January, which will be here before we know it.
Have a great day.
Roy
Everything happens at the right time, Roy.
"some other good things happened" and that is what is important.
Have a great week.
Cassi
It's funny how things work out sometimes, Cassi! It certainly worked out very well and I'm now booked to go to the meeting that I missed, in January.
All the best.
Roy
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This is like answering one question was asked me: what is retirement to you? and I thought at first retirement was as what they say you can avail of your SSS at 62 or 73 years old ..or you can collect your pension and enjoy your life after 35 years of serving or you must be at least minimum 59 1/2 years old so you can avail of your 401k. Then a rich investor happened to walk by and injected on our conversation he said" excuse me retirement is not about the age it is about having to enjoy your time and do what you want to do at the time you and place you want to do it and money is not an issue!" from then on I redefined my own concept of retirement. That's why I am here adding another possible avenue of income online while I enjoy the high teas. Thank you for sharing this article
Oh, Philip!
I ❤️ this.
Excellent advice from that Investor.
So very true.
Thank you for sharing and for your supportive feedback.
Cassi