Many people chase after a dream of financial freedom. Not everybody gets there but for those that do they will either reset their financial goals once it is met or realise that true happiness does not always come with a dollar sign. Instead, “happiness is not so much about the goal, but about the growth and learning accomplished throughout the journey to financial success.” I’m going to share with you excerpts about my journey towards success and fulfilment by finding out what truly makes me happy. The full article can be found here.
I started my company, E-Web Marketing, in 1998 with a goal of being a millionaire. This dream was fuelled by my passion to “play the game” of business rather than to live a luxurious lifestyle but once I achieved my goal, I started to question a lot of things.
“Once I became a millionaire, I started to ask myself ‘what is a millionaire?’ ‘What should I do next?’” Gary says.
Around the time Gary was questioning and reassessing his goals, he had some long-standing clients email him to say they no longer wanted to work with him.
“When I got the email it was like a punch in the guts. I thought ‘Wow, this doesn’t feel nice!’”
Making more money than ever before, and at a level of success he’d previously only imagined, Gary started to question why it felt so bad to lose these clients. Was it because of the money he was losing from these clients? What if he replaced those clients with new clients who could bring in the same, if not more money, would that make him happy? Realising the answer was ‘no’, Gary set out to find out how to not only make his clients happy, but himself and the people around him.
I came at a crossroads when I realised that no matter how much money I was making, I did not feel successful or happy when the people that I worked with and the clients that I had were unhappy. As the company grew, profits were improving but the company culture was deteriorating. It then became clear to me that I couldn’t base my happiness on material things and that “the secret to living was, in fact, giving.”
Understanding how transparent your company culture is should make you take stock of how your employees feel about their working environment. It’s firmly believed at E-Web Marketing that purpose and passion lead to profits but unfortunately a lot of companies never evolve beyond the concept of making more money.
“You can tell within seconds what a company’s culture is,” Gary says. “Focus on being happy first, profits second.”
E-Web Marketing walk the talk when it comes to company culture. Not only does this reflect in their ever-expanding bottom line, superstar team and high-quality clients, but they have been awarded BRW’s 50 Best Places to Work in 2010, 2011 and 2012. And it doesn’t stop there. They have been honoured with BRW’s Fast 100 in 2009 and 2010 as well as winning Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Australia and Fast 500 Asia Pacific numerous years running. And while awards aren’t what drive Gary and his team, it’s certainly the figurative cherry on top!
What this experience has taught me can be summed up by the following quote by Tony Robbins: “success without fulfilment is the ultimate failure”. Think about your goals for the future, are they purely financial? If you achieve this goal in the expense of personal growth, a strong work culture and amazing relationships with the people you encounter will you be truly happy?