Where’s Your Empire?
For a while, it seemed as though everyone I knew was asking the same question…
"Where's your empire?"
When I asked them why they thought that way, it was nearly unanimous…
It's because they all thought I'd have one by now.
They all thought I'd be running some sort of large corporation with hundreds of employees, driving an expensive car and making a ton of money.
That's fascinating to me.
And one hell of an expectation.
This told me a few things:
One, someone is always watching what you do.
Two, it spoke volumes of what they thought I was capable of.
Three, I was blissfully unaware of other people's expectations of me.
Four, I was still largely misunderstood, lol.
For me, starting a business was never about building an empire.
It wasn't about living up to other people's expectations of me.
It wasn't even about the money.
It was about challenging myself to step out of my comfort zone.
It was about time and creative freedom.
It was about building something with my own hands, claiming it as my own and letting it go in the world.
It was about using what I've learned to make a positive impact for those around me.
It was about spending my time following my interests, passions and curiosities and living in that happy space for as long as I could.
It was never about obtaining the expectations of what other people thought I'd have.
When I think about the word empire, I find myself replacing it with legacy.
One of the definitions of an empire is "a large commercial organization owned or controlled by one person or group."
A large commercial organization? Owned by me?
I'm flattered, truly...but no.
One of the more flattering definitions for legacy that I've come across is to "provide guidance and inspiration for family members and those impacted by you to live lives that impact their faith, homes, community and businesses."
Now, that?
That sounds more like me.
I've never wanted an empire.
I'm not in the empire building business…
I'm in the legacy creation one.
And I'm trying to help others do the same.
What legacy are you creating?
P.S. Whenever you're ready...here are a few ways I can help YOU build your business with intention:
Join my simple, but powerful personalized coaching and mentorship program, Write to CEO, that occurs via email, text, audio and sometimes video.
Get a Business Breakthrough Experience designed to identify gaps in your business and create strategies for overcoming them.
In celebration of the relaunch and rebranding of my business to The Focused CEO, LLC, I've decided to gift 1,000 90-minute coaching conversations to those looking to rebuild, redesign and repurpose their business and life after going through life events. Experience a session here.
