For the owner/operator: When growth isn't your first metric...

[brycesteiner]

I absolutely love my work. I've been offered positions in charge of other companies but I've just decided that my best place is right close to home. I can work as much as I want. I don't go rush around to be as busy as possible, though I've been busy even during the COVID time. I thank God for providing for me and my family.
I don't ever want to retire as there are so many challenges. It's not the work, it's the innovation we come up with for solutions for our community. Every week something new. Whether it's designing archival scanners, designing new tools or having the governor of the state come in and praise your work, saying he's never seen anything like it before.
Everyday is a new challenge and I don't want to miss any of it, especially since my family is included.

 

[James Burke]

Personally? Been there found out it sucked and did something completely different with my life.
Net result is I'm a little more broke, but a lot more happy.

Me too...but then again, I've never been one to be driven by the almighty dollar. At one of my former jobs, I was told that trait made me un-promotable, and eventually I walked away without so much as a wistful eye. Several years later, that business closed, and now and weeds grow high around the building. I'm so glad I didn't trade my life for that southbound elevator.

JB

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Same here, passiveness and this is "enough" is not in my mentality. We didn't start this business as a family for just enough, because as times are showing right now... Just enough doesn't weather the storm.

To all those that are happy with their level of success, I am happy for you. My thoughts aren't a knock against people who are satisfied it's a motivator to myself to never be satisfied.

Being satisfied and happy with one's level of success doesn't mean they don't have a desire to grow and evolve in their working life. To me, it means I should be happy and thankful for what God has given me now. When He provides, I thank Him and feel if I ask for more in the very next sentence it means I'm not accepting or satisfied of the gifts He's given. He gives abundantly.

If you ask a McDonald's cashier how they are and they say "I'm very happy with where I'm at", that doesn't always equal out to "I don't want to do any more in my working life".

 

[Reveal1]

Tex and Christian are both right. Growth isn't my main metric; I just get easily bored so now in my mid-sixties I have other, less stressful outlets for my competitive drive while my small business provides a stable income and infrastructure to support my other interests. But I also place a lot of value and understand we need those people whose main metric is growth.

In the extreme, we may tend to mix personality characteristics with our perception of someone's values such as 'that guy is an intense competitor so he must be a money grubbing jerk with no work/life balance" or "that guy is is a lazy burnout who doesn't contribute to the economy and is satisfied living off the government ". If you are wired to compete, it doesn't mean you can't integrate good values in your drive to succeed. And if you have a more relaxed personality, it doesn't mean you are less motivated to contribute in ways other than pure economic value.