I recently got back from a wonderful and challenging 2-week vacation in Greece. The wonderful part is obvious, but challenging? Yes. Because I’m on a healing journey and it required me to do less, to relax and just BE.

We typically go on hiking vacations that are jam packed with activity and adventure. This go around we let go of the pressure to see and do more and instead embraced doing less and experiencing it more fully. It took a few days for this girl-that-does-too-much-too-fast to slow down and in doing so I discovered that we were more present… to each other, the food, the sites and the sun.

This vacation became my nudge from the universe… The reminder that I want to create more peace and ease in my life. I’m not stopping work, or anything that I want to experience, any time soon. I’m tweaking my approach. I’m being kinder to myself, reserving my “yeses” for “hell yeses”, working with more focus (versus grind), letting go of what isn’t mine to control, infusing my days with more FUN and being intentional about creating space in my days and weeks. It’s a commitment and a practice, one that I’m eagerly taking on.

My friend Sigrid Olsen is an inspiration and in her recent email (from the boat she’s currently living on!) she offered a beautiful reflection on what she calls “soft success”– the kind of success that doesn’t come from grinding harder, but from aligning deeper.” It’s about creating a life (and work) that is truly aligned with your values and how you want to experience your life. For me it’s a life of peace, purpose, connection and freedom.

We all pursue “success” in one way or another and contrary to how many of us were raised (and how I lived for 20+ years), you get to define what “success” means to you AND your definition of “success” is likely to change over time.

So…

How do you define success for yourself at this stage of life?
What do you want to more deeply align with?
How do you want to feel?

I’d love to hear.