There’s Always a Price to the Next Level of Success

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Janine: Hello, and welcome back to the Unleashing Brilliant show. How are you all? Wonderful to have you back again. Today I want to talk to you about the fact that there is always a price to that next level of success. There's always a price to any decision that you make in terms of stepping forward and elevating your business, amplifying your next and doing things differently.

And I really want to dig deep on this because I do think that this is the very thing that holds so many of us back. That price of next is one of those unspoken truths that many successful people know about. We know that to take a step forward, to move to next, to unlock that next level of brilliance in ourselves or in our businesses, to step forward and to unlock something new.

We all know that there is [00:01:00] always a cost associated with that. And we intentionally make that choice. And this is something that I think that not accepting that truth is probably the number one reason that so many business owners, so many clients and friends that I work with end up getting to that place of feeling really stuck.

That they're stuck in where they're at now, that status quo, that comfort zone. They've hit a certain level of success, but they can't get past it. And I believe that they've reached that certain point due to their skills and their capability and the awesome thing that they've built, but they come to this grinding halt because they're not necessarily prepared to pay the price that opens up the door for them to achieve that next level of success.

Now it's something that I continually have to remind myself of every time we hit that plateau in my business and we feel like we're stagnating. We [00:02:00] always sit back and take a moment to get on that balcony and to reflect on where we're at, and to also get curious about what could be the price to unlock that next level of growth.

Because there is always a price to that next level of success. That price could be time, it could be that you've got to give up time to put in the work to enable you to step forward, to unlock that new products or that new thinking or that new marketing plan. It could be a cost in terms of energy that sometimes you've got to work a few extra hours.

You might have to put in some long nights or some extra time to be able to turn something around. It could even be cost. It could be, an investment that you're making in yourself to get that help, or it could be even a hit to your bottom line. Because you're having to invest in people to help you in your organization, might be that you need new team.

So there could always be that financial cost. I reckon the price to that next level of success can be a [00:03:00] combination of one or a few things, but primarily it's a financial cost. It's an energy cost, it's a focus cost, and sometimes it's a time cost. Along my business journey. So, you know, I've been in my own business now for around 13 years and the business that we've built literally started out as an idea.

We started off at our kitchen table and over the course of the last decade and a bit, we have gradually built that business to being in that seven figures, multiple seven figures level. we've helped thousands of clients and along the way we've had to make decisions. We've had to make decisions to shut things down, to open things up, to invest in time, to invest in energy and to invest financially, you some of the examples along the way, when I reflect here in terms of that price that we've paid to enable the next level of success have been things like, first and foremost, walking away from a six figure salary. I walked away from an amazing,[00:04:00] corporate career, six figure salary, traveling around the world for work expenses, paid trips, all of the accolades that come with operating at a senior level in corporate.

And I stepped away from that, stepped away from. The, reliability and the knowing of that six figure salary coming in every single month to an unknown to create something of my own. Another price was time. I took six months out of my business to research, to think and to write my books, as well as, that cost of choosing to stay with my bum well and truly glued to the seat as I wrote over into evenings, over weekends, missing out on family time, sometimes missing out on social events.

Sometimes having to say no to clients because the cost was the time to invest in writing that book. I knew it was going to unlock that next level of success. Another example was the financial investment that I [00:05:00] made back in 2019 to take myself off to Harvard. It wasn't just the cost of the program, it was the cost of the time away from the business.

It was the cost of actually getting there. So it was the financial hit on the business as well as the time hit on the business. But the reason we invested in that is because I knew that I needed to stretch my thinking. I wanted to stretch my thinking to get global thinking, to get global frameworks that I could bring back into Australia to share with my clients here. So again, the price to that next level of success, There was the cost, the negative hit to the top line where we shut down parts of the business to restrategize to develop a more effective and scalable business model. and also there's the cost of lost sales because right now I choose to build a life and business by design, which means that family time takes priority over work.[00:06:00]

So deciding to not work in school holidays, deciding to work short weeks means that sometimes I have to say no to business opportunities or to lead opportunities that comes my way. So the point here is that there is always a price that you have to pay to unlock that next level of success.

It could be an investment in money, you might be paying mentors, it could be an investment in time, in that you've got to find the time to commit to doing the work. It could be an investment in energy, it could be an investment in focus. The point is, Every single investment, every single price that I've paid has enabled me to unlock that next level of success.

We can't simply expect our businesses, or our world to change if we continue to do the exact same thing. the reality is if nothing changes. Well, then nothing in our life changes. Marshall [00:07:00] Goldsmith himself said what got us here will not get us there. And yet so many people are fearful to invest in their next.

And yet, we should be getting curious about what is the return on that investment? What is the return on my investment in time, my investment financially, my investment of focus, my investment with energy. Am I intentionally choosing that because I know my investment in that space is the very thing that's going to unlock that next level of success.

You know, you might look at the cost of opportunity right now. And decide that there are other parts of your life that require more intention. And that's absolutely fine. That's perfectly fine. but you might also be scared to make that investment. And I can promise you that every single time I've invested in myself or in the business, I have never regretted that investment.

my rule of thumb is between 10 to 20 percent of our income. [00:08:00] I invest in my growth, my growth for myself, my growth for the business, my growth in my skills and my craft and my mastery. So that ultimately I can ensure the clients that I work with are getting the best thinking out there, the best framework and the best strategies.

So You might be scared right now to invest, but I can promise you that every single investment I have made, I've seen a return. Now that return may result in revenue. it may result in new thinking in my business, but it also may be a return in learning and knowledge. And what I mean about that, sometimes I haven't always got the results I've wanted.

And what that investment has given me is a massive learning and a massive insight into what I don't want to do, into how not to operate, into what I've noticed potentially as a client of other mastermind groups or a client of other mentors, the way that I don't want [00:09:00] to run my business. So I totally believe that any investment you're making will get you to that next level of return.

So you might be scared to make that investment. The other thing that might be holding you back and stopping you from paying that price is you might be stuck in that zone of what if I fail. God, how many of us have done that? It's like this, crazy monster that suddenly appears in your head telling you that you're going to fail.

You're going to fail. You're going to fail. You're going to fail. And as opposed to that helping a step forward, it's the very thing that that holds us back because I want to counter that. What if I fail with what happens if you succeed? What happens if you finally get unstuck? If you finally step up, if you finally level level up, if you're finally able to stop focusing on inconsistent cashflow on inconsistent leads on, things not working, what happens that if instead of that, you can start focusing [00:10:00] on, I've got more time to work with the clients that I love. I'm attracting a flow of those clients. Those clients are enabling me to do the work that I love. They're paying me my worth, which actually means I'm able to spend time, more quality time with my family. Now, I totally believe that. every single step we take will unleash new gains for ourselves.

Fear holds us back. There's no doubt about it. But what if you can actually start questioning that fear and instead reframe it to being what if I succeed? What if I am able to fly finally? Here's the thing, at the end of the day, only you can decide if you are willing to pay the price. To the next level of success.

Nobody else can decide that for you. You've got to decide, am I willing to pay the price that I know is going to unlock that next opportunity for success? What I do know is that unless you're willing to take action, unless you're willing to invest time, [00:11:00] money. and energy, unless you're willing to do the work, unless you're willing to dig deep, unless you're willing to pay a price to that next level of success, you are going to continue to stay stuck because you weren't willing to pay the price.

You weren't willing to get that ticket up to that next level of success. So it's time to think about. What is the choice that you're going to make? Are you going to take a chance? Are you going to be brave? Are you going to give yourself that opportunity to be brilliant? Are you going to pay a price? Any price?

Because you know that the other side of that price isn't cost at all, but actually is the opportunity to step up and play at another level. I hope you've loved today's episode and I really encourage you over this week to just take some time out to, take some time to reflect and to think about what could be the [00:12:00] price that you need to pay right now to unlock that next level of success.

So that you can start stepping up more, leveling up more, and finally living and running and building the life and business by design that you actually want. Thanks for listening. And I look forward to catching up with you all next week.