NEXT TO MADISON: How to Redefine Success and Live On Your Own Terms

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Whitney recently sat down with comedian Madison Malloy for an episode of her podcast, ‘Next to Madison.’ Each week, Madison hosts a guest expert who provides insight on topics ranging from health and dating to overcoming obstacles and taking risks, all designed to inspire listeners to live their best lives. In the interview, Whitney shared advice around learning to define success on your own terms, how to prevent burnout, and tips for creating a healthy work-life balance. 

How to move past other people’s definition of success

Whitney highlighted the importance of questioning your underlying beliefs about success as you start to process what’s truly important to you and your vision for your life. So many of us go through life checking off the boxes of accomplishments without taking the time to ask ourselves, “Is this really what I want?” As high achievers, it’s so easy to keep moving to hit the next achievement, but along the way you lose touch with what you really want. If you’re pursuing specific milestones in your career and personal life because you think it’s what you’re supposed to be doing (or other people have told you it’s what you need to do), you’re going to feel unfulfilled. Instead of following other people’s opinions of success, you have to create your own. To do this, you need to call out the myths and misconceptions that have led you to think about your life and your goals in a certain way. 

In Whitney’s signature coaching program, Take Back Your Time, participants join a cohort of fellow high-achievers who want to get on the path to achieving the goals that matter to them most. A key part of being in the cohort is having robust discussions with other people about their goals and their experiences. We’re often unable to recognize false narratives or beliefs in our own life, but when we connect with people who have similar goals and face similar challenges, we can see more clearly. The power of positive reinforcement from the group also helps people shift their mindset and start to take action in their lives in order to move forward on the path to achieving the goals that matter to them most. 

Redefining what success looks like in your own life isn’t easy. It takes time and it means asking yourself some difficult questions. But when you realize that your definition doesn’t have to fit anyone else’s, you can start living the life you’ve always wanted. On the podcast, Whitney shared her personal definition of freedom: “I’m a structured, analytical person, but I’m also free-spirited. I relish the idea that I’m free to explore ideas, or take time off, or do things with my daughter. The freedom I have in the life I have built empowers me to show up as myself in everything I do.”

Instead of blindly following someone else’s vision of success, it’s time to get clear on what you want from your whole life. When you break through the false narratives and misconceptions about the life you should be living, you can start to build out a path to achieving the goals that matter to you most. Then, you’ll get to experience the freedom that comes with taking back your time and freeing up space to enjoy your life now. 


Listen to the full episode.

December 14, 2021

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I help my clients take back control over their time, define success on their own terms, and unlock their full potential. 

I'M WHITNEY,
FOUNDER OF AFARA GLOBAL +
CREATOR OF TAKE BACK YOUR TIME