I originally came into my office this morning to edit because goodness knows I am backed up with that.  I was about halfway through when I decided that I just needed to share a little of whats on my heart with yall and now was as good of time as any to start writing this post.

I haven’t shared much of whats really on my heart lately because the truth is that Im just confused by it all.  I’ve felt a little lost and confused within my business these last few months.  

Part of that was contributed by figuring out how building a business and raising a family are going to coincide together in our household.  Its tough enough to figure out a new role as a mom, then add growing a business to that and its a recipe for some serious time of “still just figuring it out”.

I also have this underlying feeling that its time for growth in my business.  Its time for AHP to take the next step.  My confusion there is that I haven’t quite figured out what that next big step is.  

I’ve been spending so much time looking to what everyone else is doing just trying to find some glimmer of a breakthrough in realizing “Hey, THIS is what I should be doing!!”

But when did “should” become such an overused word within growing a business??
Why “should” I be following what everyone else is doing??

Well, searching for the “shoulds” lead me down a really nasty road in the comparison game…  You probably know all too well that starts a spiral of questioning every foundation that you’ve built your business on.

I questioned prices, I questioned strategy… I began questioning everything about my business because it seemed like everyone else was doing the same exact thing.  What I witnessed more often than not within myself and others online was that it almost seemed like we were doing things to post about and to brag about, rather than doing it from the heart.  

I can’t help but wonder why we are doing that!  Why do we feel the need to brag to others about something our heart isn’t invested into anyways?? And why are we focusing more on bragging than we are posting to serve our clients well??

Is it because this is a saturated industry? Or maybe its because everyone is doing what everyone else is doing so we feel the need to chip in and do that too….

On top of those feelings and questions, I found myself in a pit of “well that milestone is great, but I haven’t accomplished this yet…” 

I stopped celebrating my successes and small milestones because I was constantly looking ahead to the next boulder that I needed to climb and the next mountain that I needed to be at the top of to tell everyone else about.

All of these feelings and so much more have made me feel almost numb in a sense.  Numb to the blessings and joys and triumphs and successes that are within my business.

And I don’t mean this about my family because Lord knows that I love them and am grateful for them every waking minute of my life.  I am strictly talking about business here!!

All of these things mentioned above have led me to a place that I don’t want to be.  A place of overwhelm.  A place of trying to be the jack of all trades that can do anything and everything.  I found myself overwhelmed with a to do list full of tasks that I didn’t even really care about because it was what I thought I needed to do based on what the “norm” was.

But the problem that you run into there is that you’re never REALLY dedicated to any of the things when you’re not passionate about half of the things and you’re stretched thin trying to do all of the things.

Im feeling stretched thin y’all.

So, here it is friends…  My big announcement…  Being made partly to y’all, but mostly to myself.

I’m not going to put forth the effort to be the jack of all trades any more.  I’m not going to continue to seek unnecessary approval from everyone, because the truth is that my approval, my husband approval, and knowing that I am doing the best to build a life that my daughter will be proud of is all the approval that I need to be truly happy. 

I hate to say that Im “redefining my version of success” because that has become such a catch phrase lately, but thats exactly whats going on here.

To end this heart to heart confession, I want to share with you what my version of success looks like.

I’m closing up shop at 5:00 every day and spending the afternoon snuggling with my fam.  No social media, no emails. (The exception here will be when I have sessions scheduled for the evening hours!)

Im going to focus less on bragging about my business and focus more on bragging about my clients and serving them well.

Im going to dedicate less time to fitting into a saturated market, and dedicate more time to how I can stand out within my business by being true to myself.

Rather than spending the energy to be everything I can be to everyone, I’m going to focus on how to be the best that I can to my tribe, to the people that love and support me, to the people that understand my heart within my business and, most importantly, to Brad and Henley.

Heres the thing that we often times forget…The thing that I forgot…

Loving your family hard is what makes you feel fulfilled.

Feeling fulfilled is what makes you energized.

Feeling energized is what helps you take care of yourself.

Taking care of yourself is what helps you take care of others.

Taking care of others is what helps you serve your clients well.

Serving your clients well is what brings you more clients.

Bringing in more clients is what keeps your business growing.

Keeping your business growing is what contributes to the family that you love so dearly.

It’s a circle thats never ending.  Its all connected in making our hearts feel purpose.  Yet, sometimes we stray from that cycle and we make a pitstop on the comparison road and begin to lose sight of what we are doing and why we are doing it.

If we just remember to keep our hearts the forefront of our businesses, we are guaranteed to be successful and that success is going to be the exact version of success that we’ve always hoped for.

Thanks for reading this post from my heart today, friend.  I’m so thankful that you’re here with me.  Now, I want to know, what does success look like to you???  Shoot me an email to abbyhudsonphoto@gmail.com !!  Don’t be afraid, I’m totally here to support you!