Tonight while talking with a client, I questioned her goal to earn $3-5 Million dollars in the next few years. What was driving her to that number? She mentioned growing up poor, and how she had always felt that a lot of money in the bank would allay the fear that quiet threat might cause.

Further conversation revealed a series of disappointments related to hiring and managing employees. Driven by the potential generated by her creativity and product development, she continued to ramp up business operations involving as many as 14 people, but, watching them become stress monsters. Like many creative entrepreneurs she was a lousy manager.

I’ve seen this sort of intensity in business building in people who had big success at something in the past, and sought even bigger success as a natural evolution of their skills and maturity. I mean, isn’t that the way it is? Don’t we automatically assume that we will make more money each year? Shouldn’t we plan, in fact, for our next project to be bigger, bolder, more daring? Wouldn’t there be something wrong with someone who made their business smaller each year?

“American’s are in love with home runs,” said Deming. “The Japanese understand kaizen, incremental improvement, and over time they produce consistent growth.” So American authors expect their next book to sell more, musicians expect their next album to be bigger, and so on.

But, the reality is that most bands peak in their 2nd album, and some never outsell their first record! The “one hit wonder” is legendary, but no one thinks about how this applies in a broader sense for business people. Reading Internet marketing sales letters you’d believe that each thing they do makes even more money. I can tell you for sure, that’s just not true. It’s all in the telling of the story. For more on this – read my 7 Little Choices That Can Wreck Your Business.

Elizabeth Gilbert talks of this in her video from TED, posted here on my blog. The success of Eat, Love, Pray eclipsed everything she’d ever done, but she’d been writing for years, and would continue to write in the years ahead, but she was starting to deal with the liklihood that nothing she would ever do would come close to the ELP numbers. So, what if this is true for you?

My client had big financial success in the past, setting the benchmark for her future. She quite naturally thought bigger for her future projects. It never entered her mind that her biggest success may be behind her. I can relate.

In 3 consecutive years I earned more than $300,000 as a professional speaker. The 3rd year pushed me over the $1,000,000 dollar mark in speaking, and I believed I’d always make AT LEAST that much going forward. I built a lifestyle around it, and then when September 11th brought a sudden halt to air travel, it stopped the meetings industry to a halt, and my calendar went empty in the uncertainty of the fall of 2001. Though things picked up again, a troubled economy kept things low for quite a while after. I just assumed that was temporary and the golden days would return.

In 2005 I walked away from speaking to pursue my online software business which was kicking, earning $30,000 a month. But, when Google changed their algorithm, the entire niche that my software served basically collapsed. Though I’ve done well in Internet marketing, I never had that kind of consistent cash flow since. When I read The 4 Hour Work Week and got the whole Mexican Fisherman concept in my head, I realized that it was very likely that I’d never earn $300,000 a year – ever again. And I was totally okay with that.

Listen, I fully realize this is not the sort of thing you’ll read anywhere else. It’s contrary to the whole success, live your dreams rap. But, it is more real than the continuous arc upward. Life is not like that. Unless, you are willing to pay the price. That price is a very serious commitment to long hours, managing people, and playing the game. I’ve absolutely no interest in that game, or the life it leaves you with.

If this is helpful, or curious, or maybe you think I’m way off – please leave a comment here and tell me what you think?