Was It Worth It?

Was It Worth It?

I’m writing to you all from Joshua Tree.?

Looking out a window to my left there is an open plain filled with the wild alien trees this area is known for. Small birds flit across the ground, and further off on the horizon the first snow has fallen on the far distant mountains.

I came here to reflect.?

To look back on this past year, arguably the most challenging one in my career as an entrepreneur, so I could gather up all the vital lessons that came through from everything my team and I did, saw, and overcame on the wild ride that was 2022.

I do this sort of reflection at least once a quarter, alongside Sarah, my COO, dear friend, and co-conspirator in shaping and scaling Fearless Foundry.

I highly recommend the ritual to any entrepreneur—as well as any human that in general values taking time to take stock of their life and assess what is working and what is worth leaving behind.?

In my reflections over the weekend, a message came through with crystal clarity. It was about the worth of our collective work in this world, and how we should truly measure if our input—everything we pour into bringing our big ideas and businesses to life—was truly worth it.

As we evolve out of a capitalist patriarchy, it's important to recognize that the ways in which we evaluate our efforts typically tie back to the core tenets of this system, namely money and power, and in particular how much more we’ve grown to accumulate as a result of our endeavors. In the eyes of this system, more is always better, and anything less equates to failure.?

I’m so fucking sick of this system—being stuck in this old pattern means I often feel like I’m failing most of the time.

So I’m building a new one.

Going forward, whether I’m measuring the success of my marketing endeavors, the growth of my business, or my own up-leveling as a leader, these are the guideposts I’m going to use to determine if the outcomes achieved were worth the effort put in.?

#1: Energy

Simply put, this is about measuring the volume of energy that was poured into a particular area in order to determine if the energy output on the other side was equivalent or greater than the original input. On either side of that equation, energy could be time, money, emotional capacity, or straight-up effort and work, but regardless, if the outcome is?Energy In ≤ Energy Out, that endeavor was worth it.

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#2: Impact

In this new era, I believe that success in business is about recognizing that the true measure of the worth of our work is about something so much greater than our individual selves. It is about the impact it leaves on the world around us. That impact could be as massive as helping a new founder be able to hire their first employees, or as memorable as showing one person how to interpret their lived experience differently. Ultimately, impact is about setting aside our egos and assessing if the work leads to some greater good in the world.

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#3: Opportunity

Last but most certainly not least is whether or not our work leads to new and aligned opportunities that allow us and our work to progress and grow. At times I’ve been known to tell my coaching clients: “You are a unicorn swimming in a sea of opportunities.”?And I mean it. Because when we assess our work based on what it leads to next, be it a new chance to share your latest work, a new client relationship, or a partnership that results in new revenue, we can operate from a place of abundance knowing that our work is working for us.

I challenge you, my dear reader, to take some precious time in the coming weeks to evaluate and reflect on the efforts that you undertook this year and allow yourself to assess the results through a lens greater than just revenue and outward achievements. Sometimes it’s the smaller results and the inner work that allow us to find the greatest growth in ourselves and in our work in the world.

Curious to know what you uncover in the process. Keep me posted on what you find.?

Take care,

— Madeline