Define Success or Chase It Forever: How to Build the Business You Actually Want
Richer Soul Podcast • Episode 489 • Mitch Matthews
Success feels elusive. You work hard, hit revenue targets, and yet something still feels incomplete. If this resonates with you, you’re not alone. In a recent conversation with success coach and speaker Mitch Matthews, we discovered a truth that most entrepreneurs and high-achieving leaders never address: they’ve never actually defined what success means to them.
Mitch Matthews is a success coach and creator of the top 1% podcast Dream Think Do. He works with organizations like Nike, NASA, and Disney, and he’s the creator of The Authority Bridge, a proven process that helps professionals turn their experience into a coaching and speaking business. But before all of that, he was a 13-year-old sweeping the alley of a bike shop in Iowa, learning lessons that would shape his entire business philosophy.
The Hidden Cost of Undefined Success
One of the most powerful insights from our conversation came when discussing why high-achievers struggle to articulate their dreams. Mitch said something that stopped me in my tracks: “Success seems forever elusive. But if you take just a second to ask that question, what does success mean to you? And add even what does success mean to you in this season? It’s amazing what can flow from that.”
This isn’t just motivational talk. This is the difference between building a business that pays the bills and building a business that fulfills your purpose.
Think about it. How many entrepreneurs do you know who are making great money but feel hollow? They hit their revenue goals, they grew their team, they scaled their operations. Yet they wake up asking themselves, “Is this really what I wanted?”
The reason is simple: they never defined success in the first place.
Most business owners operate from a default definition of success inherited from their environment. It might be the seven-figure revenue mark they heard about at a conference. It might be the number of employees they think a “real” company should have. It might be the lifestyle they think they’re supposed to want.
But it’s rarely their own definition.
Mitch’s approach flips this on its head. Instead of chasing a finish line you didn’t create, he asks leaders to pause and ask themselves: What does success actually look like for me in this season of my life?
The Season-Based Approach to Goals and Dreams
One of the most practical insights from our conversation involved the concept of seasonal dreams. Mitch shared a personal story about wanting an Akita dog for 30 years. He wanted one, but during the seasons when he was traveling 60 percent of the time for his business, getting an Akita would have been a mistake. The dog needs its owner present. So he waited.
When his business model shifted during COVID and his travel schedule decreased, suddenly it was the right season for that dream. Two years ago, he got his Akita, and it’s been perfect for that stage of his life.
This is a crucial concept for entrepreneurs. Just because you have a dream doesn’t mean now is the right season for it. A dream to travel the world might be incredible, but if your kids are in critical school years or your business needs your presence, that might not be the season.
The question becomes: Can you acknowledge the dream without forcing it into the wrong season?
This changes everything about how you approach goal-setting. Instead of feeling guilty for not chasing every dream simultaneously, you can strategically ask yourself: What dreams am I pursuing now? What dreams am I preparing for? What dreams belong to a different season?
Permission Is the Barrier Nobody Talks About
Another striking theme from our conversation was the role of permission in business. When I mentioned that people struggle with permission, Mitch responded thoughtfully about how we live in a permission-based culture. Kids now wait to be picked for teams instead of organizing neighborhood games. Adults wait for someone to give them permission to pursue their dreams.
Here’s the hard truth: Most people aren’t paying attention to you the way you think they are.
Mitch shared his grandmother’s wisdom: “Boy, people don’t think about you as much as you think they do.” And it’s true. While you’re worried about what someone might think if you launch that coaching business or start that side project, they’re focused on their own lives.
This is why Seth Godin’s advice resonates so much: “Don’t wait to be picked. Pick yourself.”
You don’t need permission from your boss, your family, or your industry to start experimenting with your next chapter. You just need to give it to yourself.
The Business Sequence That Actually Works
The most transformative concept we discussed was the importance of understanding your business sequence. Mitch described how his mentor used a simple coffee shop analogy to explain it.
When you walk into a coffee shop, there’s a clear sequence. You arrive, you look at the menu, you go to the counter, you order, you wait, you find a table, you sit down. That’s a sequence that works because every step leads naturally to the next one.
But most entrepreneurs can’t describe their business sequence. They can’t explain how someone becomes aware of them, moves from knowledge to connection, builds trust, and then decides to invest.
Mitch realized he had no sequence when he was struggling to build his coaching business. He was investing in big-name certifications and assuming that credentials alone would attract clients. It didn’t work. What worked was developing a clear sequence that moved people from awareness to trust to investment.
This applies whether you’re selling bikes, coaching services, or fractional CFO work like I do. Your sequence is the step-by-step process that transforms a stranger into a paying client.
Without it, you’re hoping people will somehow figure out how to work with you. With it, you’re guiding them through a natural progression.
From Bike Shop to $15K Speaking Gigs: The Power of Being Interested
Mitch’s early lesson from Marty Schwinn, the bike shop owner, has become a guiding principle throughout his entire career. When he was 13 and customers kept asking for Marty instead of talking to the young employee, Marty pulled him aside and gave him life-changing advice: “Stop trying to be interesting. Get interested.”
That single lesson transformed everything. Instead of trying to impress customers with knowledge about bikes, Mitch started asking questions. He learned about the customer’s bike, their riding goals, their upcoming events. He stayed close and engaged with genuine curiosity.
The result? Customers who initially wanted Marty ended up buying $700 bikes from the 13-year-old.
This principle has echoed through Mitch’s entire career. As an introvert who does extroverted work, he relies on this approach at every networking event, every conference, every client meeting. Being interested, not interesting, makes you the most interesting person in the room.
This also applies to building authority and becoming a speaker or coach. People don’t pay for interesting people. They pay for people who understand them, who ask good questions, and who genuinely care about their success.
Building Authority Without Burning Your Life Down
This brings us to The Authority Bridge, Mitch’s solution for high-level leaders and executives who want to add coaching and speaking to their careers without walking away from their current success.
The Authority Bridge isn’t designed for people who want to quit and start over. It’s designed for people who have already built something valuable and want to amplify their impact and income by teaching others.
One of Mitch’s clients recently earned $15,000 for a single keynote. But what excited him more than the money was the impact. He was speaking to a room of people who weren’t in his normal network, and he walked away knowing that his knowledge and experience truly mattered to people outside his industry.
This is the hidden benefit of adding coaching and speaking to your business. You realize you have something the world actually needs.
The Three Truths About Success
As we wrapped up our conversation, I asked Mitch three short-answer questions about life and success. His answers cut straight to the heart of what most entrepreneurs need to hear.
First truth about success: It’s a lot closer than you might think, but you still need to define it. Success seems forever out of reach, but most people are three feet from gold and don’t even know it.
Second lesson learned late: Be curious. Mitch was curious in the bike shop, but curiosity is almost impossible to feel at the same time as fear. When you’re truly curious, fear has nowhere to go.
Third piece of wisdom for 18-year-olds: Don’t focus on being interesting. Be interested. And while you have time, ask successful people how they got where they are. Those relationships will open doors later that you can’t even imagine now.
Taking Action: Your Next Step
If you’re a business owner or high-achieving leader reading this, here’s what matters:
Take time this week to define what success actually means to you. Not what you think it should mean. Not what your industry tells you it should be. What does success look like in this current season of your life?
Then ask yourself: Do I have a clear sequence for how people move from awareness of my business to actual investment? Can I articulate it?
And finally, give yourself permission to explore your next chapter. You don’t need someone else’s approval. You just need to start.
Success isn’t about chasing harder. It’s about defining clearly and moving strategically. And that all starts with answering one simple question: What does success actually mean to me?
Meet Mitch Matthews
Mitch Matthews is a success coach, speaker, and creator of the top 1% podcast DREAM THINK DO — where he helps high-achieving leaders and entrepreneurs dream bigger, think better, and do more of what they were put on the planet to do.
He’s worked with organizations like Nike, NASA, and Disney, and he’s the creator of The Authority Bridge™ — a proven process that helps professionals turn their experience into a coaching and speaking business they love.
Links
Website: www.MitchMatthews.com
Coupon Code: richersoul
Podcast: DREAM THINK DO: https://mitchmatthews.com/blog/
To join thousands who receive Mitch’s weekly “4 Things” email… you can go to: MitchMatthews.com/4things
“Discover 44 Proven Ways to Find Your First Life Coaching Clients (And Keep Them Coming!)” Guide: mitchmatthews.com/44ways
“Faith & Focus: 11 Prayers for Building a Business and/or a Coaching Organization You Love” Guide: mitchmatthews.com/11prayers
Instagram: @mitch.matthews
Facebook: @mitch.matthews.104
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchmatthews/
Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@richersoul
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Any financial advice is for educational purposes only and you should consult with an expert for your specific needs.
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