How We Use The Metric of Success to Build an Aligned Business

A few years ago, I reached a breaking point.

On paper, everything was working — clients, growth, visibility. But inside, I felt anxious, unfulfilled, and completely out of alignment.
I had done everything “right,” and yet, none of it felt right.

So, I did something I’d never seen in any business book: I flipped the process entirely.

Instead of starting with goals, I started with a feeling.

Where it began

In 2021, after years of chasing traditional goals, I realized I was creating from a place of performance, not presence. I decided to reverse-engineer my entire approach to success — to build from the inside out.

That became the foundation of what I now call The Metric of Success, a framework that helps you design your life and business around the emotion you want to experience most.

It’s simple — but it changes everything.

Instead of saying,

“I want to make a million dollars,”

you ask,

“What do I want to feel?”

Maybe that word is freedom, peace, love, or expansion.
Then you define what that emotion means to you.

Because peace for one person might look like three-day workweeks and creative flow.
For another, it might mean a structured calendar, consistent income, and evenings spent completely offline.

This exercise isn’t about what looks good on your Notion board.
It’s about what feels true in your body.

Bringing it to life

Once you identify your word — your feeling — you build your life around it.

You integrate it into everything:
how you design your schedule, how you approach money, how you choose clients, even how you start your mornings.

You use it as your compass.

Because your Metric of Success isn’t something you wait to reach — it’s something you practice every day.

This isn’t just visualization; it’s embodiment.
When you wake up and act from that feeling — when you make decisions that support it — your external success naturally aligns.

You stop forcing and start flowing.
You stop building for validation and start building from fulfillment.

Why this matters

We’ve been conditioned to measure success by metrics that don’t consider our emotional well-being — numbers, followers, revenue, milestones.

But conscious founders know that true success is congruence: the alignment between how you live, how you lead, and how you feel.

When your business and your emotions are in harmony, everything expands.

If this resonates…

This is the work we do inside all our offerings — creating from the feeling first.

If you’re ready to redefine success in a way that feels expansive, aligned, and sustainable, you can begin in one of three ways:

– The Business of Substance — our 12-week program that helps conscious founders build from emotion, not expectation.
– 1:1 Creative Strategy Sessions — for entrepreneurs ready to integrate their metric of success into how they lead, create, and grow.
– Substance Partnerships — for visionary brands who want to lead from alignment and emotional intelligence.

Success doesn’t start at the finish line.
It starts with a feeling.