Are you choosing to live a happy, fulfilling life?
Studies show that 90% of what separates a happy life from an unhappy one is within your control. One of the most powerful ways to unlock your best life is by setting, pursuing, and achieving meaningful goals.
You have the power to choose happiness—but don’t just take my word for it! Here’s how real people, just like you, are creating happiness by chasing their biggest goals.
Ready for a dad joke?
Consider this a lighthearted amuse-bouche for your brain before we get serious. Sure, it might be groan-worthy—but hey, at least you’re getting your money’s worth, right? 😆
What did the fish wear a bowtie?
He wanted to look Sofishticated.
When Success Isn’t Enough: Ashley’s Bold Decision to Choose Happiness
🌟 Welcome to this month’s Interview with a Goal-Crusher! 🌟
Each month, I sit down with someone who has achieved big things through goal-setting and determination to uncover their secrets to success. Then, I share those insights with you—think of it as free mentoring from someone who’s already making it happen. Who wouldn’t want that?!
This month, I’m featuring Ashley, a former (and future) coaching client. I met Ashley last summer through a friend, and since then, I’ve had the privilege of coaching her… and becoming one of her biggest fans. I think a recent email I sent her says it best:
💪 You are a beast!
🔥 You are a badass!
🏃♀️ You are an athlete in every sense!
I stand by every word, and I’m excited to share part of Ashley’s story with you today.
Success Comes in Many Forms
After more than two years of writing Interview with a Goal-Crusher, I continue to be reminded that no two goals look the same. Even when a goal seems similar on the surface, the path to achieving it—and what it means to the person pursuing it—can be wildly different.
Take business ownership, for example. I’ve shared the stories of two people launching baking businesses, yet their journeys couldn’t be more different—one specializes in dog treats, the other in artisanal bread. Every goal has its own identity, and every success story is unique.
Ashley’s journey stands out as one of the most unique goal success stories I’ve shared. Her business, Outside Sales, was thriving. But here’s the twist:
🚀 This isn’t a story about starting a business—though she did that.
📈 It’s not about growing a business—though she did that too.
💰 It’s not even about making a business wildly successful—though she accomplished that as well.
Instead, this is the story of why Ashley made the courageous decision to shut down her successful business—because success, on its own, wasn’t making her happy.
And that’s the real takeaway here: The purpose of any goal is to build a life that feels fulfilling. If a goal is costing you happiness instead of adding to it, it’s time to reassess. You can always change your mind.
Now, let’s dive into Ashley’s journey—in her own words.
Please introduce yourself and tell my readers about you and what you do.
I’m Ashley and I’m a salesperson for local food producers.
I live outside of Denver, Colorado and take advantage of the thriving food scene here both as an industry professional and as an eater! Many beloved and nationally distributed grocery brands started in Colorado (like Justin’s Peanut Butter), so I set out to help local food brands grow by getting their product from the farmer’s market and onto grocery store shelves all across the Front Range.
I started my solo sales agency in 2022, and recently made the difficult decision to shut down the business.
At the peak of the operation, I was representing eight different food products with many potential brands interested in my sales services. I experienced both the highs of successfully graduating brands to the next level of distribution, and the lows of not meeting the client’s expectations for sales.
When I’m not working, I love exploring the nearby mountains by hiking, climbing, or biking, or participating in really any activity that requires sunscreen and a snack along the way!
What motivated you to shut down your business? What was your vision? Can you share some/all of your story?
The decision to shut down the business came alongside the booming success of a few clients.
My vision for the business was to be the “starter salesperson” for small food businesses, and to saturate the local market with their product in order to “graduate” them into larger scale distribution, at which point I would hand over their sales assets and move on to the next brand.
What I learned was that the more successful a brand became, the more intertwined I became in maintaining that level of growth – and more than a few of my brands were growing rapidly. It wasn’t the “turn ‘em and burn ‘em” structure that I had built the business on. As my agency grew alongside my clients, I realized that I would need to hire account managers and salespeople to support the success, which I hadn’t planned for so soon.
I was more prepared for the failure of my business than I was for its success.
The goals I created were related to the struggles I was experiencing in the business. I wanted to feel the way I thought entrepreneurs felt: confident and independent. Even though I had an outwardly successful business, I felt like a person divided by the number of clients I had. I was invigorated by seeing my clients successful, but I didn’t have a roadmap on how I could be successful myself.
The business became a source of stress and anti-joy and I had to make major changes to either it or myself in order to continue.
What was the first step you took to get started with your goal?
At first, I planned to create infrastructure goals that I could work on in the business, such as preparing to hire an account manager or improving processes. But I kept going back to wanting to feel confident and independent, and it felt like adding an employee to manage would only contribute to my shrinking self.
I started questioning what makes me feel independent and confident on a daily, tangible basis.
In retrospect, the answer was always in front of me!
I had named my agency Outside Sales because I literally offered outside sales, but what really captured me about the name was it referenced exactly the thing that made me feel confident and independent – being in the outdoors.
Being in the outdoors aligns me and reminds me that it’s about the journey, not the summit. The tasks in the outdoors are simple, focused, and usually fun – climb up the mountain – even if the execution is hard. Just put one foot in front of the other. I wanted to bring this energy to my agency and my clients.
While I started with this energy, as soon as success started rolling in, I couldn’t maintain it. Successes or failures in my business on any given day stopped relating to how I felt about it, because I wasn’t clear on what success for me even looked like.
Why didn’t a big win for a client feel like a productive day’s work?
Why didn’t I agree when clients told me I was doing a great job?
I felt very lost, and constantly unsure about what role I played in my own business and in my own life.
What were your biggest challenges in achieving your goals? How did you overcome them?
The biggest challenge for me in achieving my goals was deciding on which goals to pursue!
The success of the business would have been an obvious choice for goals, but what I really wanted was to feel successful, and it was clear the success of the business didn’t make me feel successful.
Goal-setting started off very murky, but a few things became very clear:
- I craved focus – splitting my time so narrowly was holding me back from feeling productive and strong, I wanted to be more detail-oriented and dedicated
- I craved relationships – I didn’t want to “turn and burn” clients. I preferred the client relationships where I became an integral part of the team, and was more successful in sales the closer I was to the brand/product
- I craved joy – I wasn’t having fun in my own business
I created goals that would meet these needs, some of which are outside the scope of work and focused on my personal life. The goals I chose were simple to comprehend, even if they were hard to execute.
The clarity I craved fell into place pretty quickly after starting work on the goals, and I accepted that it was time to move on from this version of the business. Congruently, I was presented with an awesome opportunity, which was to work full-time for one of my clients as the Head of Sales and Account Management.
It was a dream job, and in a way, it was the job I was trying to create for myself with the business.
What goal success tips and techniques have worked well for you that you would like to share with my readers?
The hardest part in goal-setting was admitting that I didn’t know what I wanted. Once I admitted that to myself, I was able to then focus on how I wanted to feel instead.
It was a lot easier to stick to goals that were already making me feel how I wanted, as opposed to goals I was unsure I wanted in the first place.
Remembering that for most of our lives we will be on the path, not at the summit, was crucial for me in finding goals worth pursuing. The mere pursuit of my goals helped me achieve unexpected heights in my career.
What is one goal you are excited about right now?
One of my goals is to be a Sales Boss – meaning that I lead a team of salespeople.
While this could have been achieved with Outside Sales, it could also be achieved in other ways. With my new job, and some corresponding revenue goals, I know exactly what I have to do to be in a position to hire my dream sales team.
One foot in front of the other.
What else would you like my Operation Melt readers to know about you, your business, your journey or about goal success in general?
I was an entrepreneur who, on the outside, looked successful. I attended networking events and used jargon and had a strong client base.
However, I was nervous, unsure of myself, and highly intimated by the seemingly powerful and confident female entrepreneurs around me.
I am still all of these things, except intimidated.
Being nervous is often a sign that you are challenging yourself, but being intimidated is based off assumptions about other people. Instead of idealizing people and feeling inadequate, I should have been asking questions and challenging myself, knowing that at worst, I would learn something new.
Having confidence that you are capable of trying something new is a productive and delicious flavor of confidence that I wish upon everybody.
How can people learn more about you?
Connect with me on Linkedin or my favorite form of communication, email! Ashley@outsidesalesco.com (I’m keeping the email – just in case!)
Ashley’s Story: A Lesson in Choosing Joy Over “Bigger and Better”
Ashley’s story is a powerful reminder that success isn’t just about chasing bigger, better, more—it’s about pursuing what truly makes you happy. She did what any of us can do: realized that her current path wasn’t leading to joy and made the bold choice to change direction.
Here are a few of Ashley’s key takeaways that stood out to me:
✅ Set goals based on how you want to feel, not just what you want to achieve. Accomplishments are great, but what’s the point if they don’t bring you fulfillment?
✅ Once you get clear on what you truly want, the path forward often reveals itself. Ashley’s dream job presented itself after she identified the feelings and experiences that mattered most to her.
✅ You can’t judge someone else’s success from the outside. Just because someone looks successful doesn’t mean they feel it. True success is personal.
✅ It’s not just about the summit—it’s about enjoying the climb. The journey is the experience. If you’re miserable along the way, reaching the top won’t magically make it better.
Spoiler alert: Some of these concepts might just make an appearance in my next point… 👀
How Ashley Used Project Manage Your Life to Crush Her Goal
Ashley’s journey aligns perfectly with the Project Manage Your Life (PMYL) principles, showing how a structured approach can help you create the life you actually want.
📌 Commit to SMART Goals – Ashley didn’t just set arbitrary business goals. She identified a clear, strategic outcome: to feel successful, independent, and confident. That’s a goal with purpose.
📌 Build a Plan That Works for You – Once she committed to that goal, she took action. That meant shutting down a successful business (a tough choice!) and saying YES to a new opportunity that aligned with what she truly wanted.
📌 Don’t Go It Alone – While she didn’t dive deep into this in the interview, Ashley didn’t navigate this journey solo. She leaned on friends, family, colleagues, and a coach (hi! 🙋♂️) for support and perspective before making her move.
📌 Enjoy the Journey – In Ashley’s own words:
“Remembering that for most of our lives we will be on the path, not at the summit, was crucial for me in finding goals worth pursuing. The mere pursuit of my goals helped me achieve unexpected heights in my career.”
Want to Apply These Principles to Your Own Life?
Ashley found success because she stopped and asked herself the one question that matters most:
🤔 How do I want to feel in my life?
Now, it’s your turn.
- Are your current goals helping you feel that way?
- Or are they making you feel stuck, stressed, or disconnected from what you really want?
If your goals aren’t bringing you joy, it’s time to make a change.
Let me help…
Here are a couple of ways I can help you make the changes to your goals that will unlock your joy.
📢 Exciting news! My two new books—Project Manage Your Life and the PMYL Workbook—launch on May 1! Want early access and exclusive bonuses? Subscribe now and be the first to know!
🚀 Need help figuring out what your next move should be? Looking for a proven process and a hands-on partner to bring your goals to life?
I’m a certified master life coach and goal-setting ninja, and I’d love to help. Through my books, coaching, and the Project Manage Your Life system, I’ll help you stop spinning your wheels and start creating the life you want—one goal at a time.
💥 So… what’s holding you back? 💥
✨ I believe in you, let me help YOU believe in you! ✨
Calling All Goal-Crushers…
Know a goal-crusher with a story worth sharing? Or maybe it’s you? Let’s connect … I’m always looking for inspiring new interviews! I am always looking for new Interview with a Goal-Crusher candidates. Hit me up and let me know who I should be talking to.
Meet Coach Tony
I’m Coach Tony – coach, author, and project manager on a mission to build a world where no goal dies of loneliness.
For 40 years, I nearly let one of my biggest dreams slip away—not because I failed, but because I never even tried. Then, I took a leap, applied a simple, structured process, and not only achieved my goal but surpassed it.
That experience transformed my life, and I believe you can do the same.
Through Operation Melt, I provide engaging content and hands-on coaching designed to inspire, motivate, and equip project managers and other left-brained high-achievers to pursue and accomplish their biggest goals.
Let’s make sure your goals don’t die of loneliness. Let me help you start your transformation today!
Breathe new life into your goals
Download my free ebook to learn how to create goals that actually work and get the jump-start you need in life!
