Redefining Success Beyond The Numbers

Success Isn’t On The Spreadsheet

When Alex Baker logged into The Clubhouse Roundtable this past Friday night, I knew we were going to talk about success. I also knew that we weren’t going to talk about splits, Strava trophies, or success defined by an endurance sports metric.

We were going to talk about something far more uncomfortable.

Success. How do we define it today? What was the definition years ago? Will it change in the future?

As endurance athletes and entrepreneurs, we measure everything. Pace per mile. FTP. Weekly mileage. PRs. Revenue goals. Podcast downloads. Social media growth. If it can be tracked, we track it. And honestly, we quietly judge ourselves by it. Although based on this conversation, I am unsure how quietly we are judging ourselves. Maybe we aren’t telling the internet but I know that we are telling each other about it.

On this episode of The Clubhouse Roundtable, Santino, Joe, Derek, Alex, and I pulled back the curtain on what success actually means to us right now. We had to establish a baseline so we also talked about what that looked like at 22.

What caused the change in the success of measurement? What has meaning to us today versus yesterday?

I can tell you that it looks different today but what about tomorrow? That is a question that is hard to answer.

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When The Plan Doesn’t Go As Planned

When I launched my company, I had a five-year plan that felt airtight. The spreadsheets were clean. The projections were bold. The confidence? Through the roof.

Fast forward to now… and let’s just say I get an error message because excel cannot measure the value of connection.

Here’s what I’ve learned along the way and I hope that it isn’t the last thing I learn. The most meaningful success in my life isn’t sitting inside a bank account. It’s sitting across from me on Friday nights. It’s the friendships we’ve built. It’s the vulnerability that shows up in that virtual room. There is the comfort in knowing we can talk about parenting, marriage, doubt, ambition, fear and still lace up the next morning to train like everyday athletes chasing something bigger than medals.

What Success Looks Like Now

Joe talked about redefining success for his kids and not once does money enter the conversation. Derek shared how growing up around excess taught him that wealth and happiness aren’t the same thing. Santino spoke about demystifying social media for his daughter, reminding her that the highlight reel isn’t real life.

And Alex? He’s running marathons across the world because 2019 Alex wouldn’t have gotten off the couch.

Is evolution a success? Without hesitation our group said YES.

I used to chase financial milestones like they were finish lines. Now? I’d rather be time-rich and checkbook-stable than checkbook-rich and time-poor. I didn’t lower my bar., I raised my standard.

Success today means being present with Lori. It means showing up consistently. It means building Run Tri Bike and the Everyday Athlete Clubhouse in a way that can’t always be quantified but can absolutely be felt.

Redefining Success As Endurance Athletes

Endurance sports teach us something powerful and that is that growth isn’t always linear. Sometimes your fastest season isn’t your most meaningful one. Sometimes the breakthrough isn’t a PR but rather perspective.

Redefining success isn’t giving up. As a matter of fact, I would argue that you should be changing your definition of success on a regular basis. Maturity is the word that comes to mind.

For me, connection, character, community, and presence matter more than arbitrary metrics.

I make this quote in the conversation but Muhammad Ali once said:

“A man who views the world the same at 50 as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.”

What does success mean to you right now?

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