In another thread ("Is It Happening Again?" now locked), raceman makes an excellent point; namely, that success for one person can be completely different from success for another. In other words, success is what YOU define it to be. Success is a result. It's what happens when YOU achieve the goals YOU set for YOURSELF or YOUR business.
For one driver, success might mean driving over a certain number of miles a year. For another it might mean having a truck driving job where X number of weeks at spent at home. For yet another, success may mean generating a gross income of X dollars, or a net income of X. For still others, expediting success may mean breaking even or losing no less than X dollars while seeing the country. Others still may define success by the number of trucks in his or her fleet or number of drivers he or she assisted in becoming owner operators in their own right.
When Diane and I entered the business in August 2003, we had five goals. They were:
(1) Increase our income
(2) Simplify our lives
(3) Spend more time together
(4) Share a business project
(5) See the country
We achieved all of those goals in 2003 and 2004. While goals 3 and 4 pretty much take care of themselves in expediting, they are a vast improvement over what we had (didn't have) in our previous careers. While our lives are indeed simpler (goal 2), we still have more to do to get to where we want to be. Regarding goals 1 and 5, it feels great to look back and see we accomplished exactly what we set out to do; as verified by our increased gross income, fatter savings accounts and tourist pictures. For 2005, our goals remain the same and we're looking forward to doing even better. The new truck we'll soon acquire is not a goal. It's a resource for use in better achieving the goals we previously set.
The more people allow for other people's definitions of expediting success, the more plesant the discussions will be in the Open Forum. In that spirit, let me ask,
How do YOU define expediting success?
For one driver, success might mean driving over a certain number of miles a year. For another it might mean having a truck driving job where X number of weeks at spent at home. For yet another, success may mean generating a gross income of X dollars, or a net income of X. For still others, expediting success may mean breaking even or losing no less than X dollars while seeing the country. Others still may define success by the number of trucks in his or her fleet or number of drivers he or she assisted in becoming owner operators in their own right.
When Diane and I entered the business in August 2003, we had five goals. They were:
(1) Increase our income
(2) Simplify our lives
(3) Spend more time together
(4) Share a business project
(5) See the country
We achieved all of those goals in 2003 and 2004. While goals 3 and 4 pretty much take care of themselves in expediting, they are a vast improvement over what we had (didn't have) in our previous careers. While our lives are indeed simpler (goal 2), we still have more to do to get to where we want to be. Regarding goals 1 and 5, it feels great to look back and see we accomplished exactly what we set out to do; as verified by our increased gross income, fatter savings accounts and tourist pictures. For 2005, our goals remain the same and we're looking forward to doing even better. The new truck we'll soon acquire is not a goal. It's a resource for use in better achieving the goals we previously set.
The more people allow for other people's definitions of expediting success, the more plesant the discussions will be in the Open Forum. In that spirit, let me ask,
How do YOU define expediting success?
