So often as an entrepreneur it’s easy to just focus so directly on your business and the art of selling, or growing that you forget to focus on anything else. In doing this it can cause great strain on your family and those around you without you even noticing. Until one day you wake up and realize…you’ve missed out.
It happened to me without me even noticing…I would legitimately spend all day and half the night working on projects and developing strategies to to grow my business. Sometimes just reinventing a strategy someone else had already created and I just needed to tweak…I needed that control. I needed that feeling that YES this is perfect and I can now implement it. Only to realize that it’s 1 AM and…it just might not be the best time to send out that Email Blast or IG post. While during this period I have grown and learnt so much a rude awakening happened. I’ve been blessed for the majority of my kids life to work from home. Working my businesses around their schedules and our families needs. But when I took on this new opportunity I completely lost my mind! I found myself only focused on what the business needed an less focused on what I was missing with my family. When Ky (my now 8 year old) said to me “Mommy can you quit one of your jobs?” I was confused at first…I love my work…I don’t look at these businesses as jobs but as an extension of me. So I ask him what in the world was he talking about??? I mean I still volunteer at his school? I still go have lunch with him on special days? I take him to scouts. I do all the things?? What possibly could he mean?
He said with the saddest face “Mom you don’t have time for the fun stuff.” Right then y’all heart BROKEN!!!! Seriously I am the definition of fun!!! We do the fun stuff…Don’t we???
In that moment I realized he was right. I had put my businesses and other priorities in front of him. I realized I wasn’t the one putting him to bed, his dad was. I wasn’t reading with him after school…I wasn’t doing all the things! All the LITTLE things. The things that come from finding a balance between your work and you.
Regardless of the type of work you do…be it corporate career or direct sales you have to find a balance. There is so much joy to have in this life and focusing only on one means you are missing out.
So here are some tips from my experience to balance out your life.
#1 — Don’t be afraid – if you take the night off everything will not fall apart. building a business means being committed but it does not mean the business is all you are.
#2 — Be Authentic YOU – Authenticity can take a lot of stress off your day to day life. When you are being true to the person you are it’s easy to make your lifestyle a part of your business.
#3 — SCHEDULE – Don’t just schedule your work but also schedule your breaks. If your little goes to bed at 8:00 pm Sunday – Thursday put that in your schedule so you can be present. Also don’t forget to put ME time in that schedule…where you will recoup–relax and recharge to be the best you!
#4 — Have Office Hours – With technology people have forgotten their heads and will message you all hours of the night. That does not mean you have to answer them! Set work hours and let your customers know when you’re available for them…if you make yourself available all hours you are setting yourself up for a dangerous precedent!
#5 — Balance is not Equal – Understand that I’m not suggesting you spend half your time working and the other half doing whatever you please. If you’re feeling stressed out it might just be time to take a step back an focus on family or yourself. If you’re feeling you aren’t getting enough done it’s time to invest in your business and go back to #3
#6 — Reward yourself!!!! – Don’t burn out…set micro goals so that you can give yourself little rewards along the way to your BIG DREAM! Maybe it’s getting your nails done, or an ice cream, or a new bag!
#7 — Don’t forget your Friends – You know your friends those people who love you for you? Yeah don’t forget about them…it’s important to have healthy relationships with people who inspire you and make you laugh. To me laughing is one of my top stress revilers.
At the end of the day there are millions of ways you can balance out your life and no two people will have the same balance. It’s important to find what fits for you and work hard to not miss out on those little things.
Take time and watch the fireflies.
