Here’s a quick question for you:
“Do you fit your business around your lifestyle or your lifestyle around your business?”
Man
y people start a business with big plans and dreams. They want to get out of the rat-race and start earning what they are really worth; not what their boss pays them. They want the freedom that comes from running their own business.
They know that better financial rewards and more freedom will give them a better quality of life or lifestyle. It will allow them to live where they want to live, drive what they want to drive and more importantly; it will allow them to be the master or mistress of their own destiny.
So why is it that years later, most small business owners still work long hours and live an uninspiring lifestyle?
I believe these business owners make a subconscious decision: They decide to fit their lifestyle around their business.
Their business grows to a certain point and then, usually after 2 or 3 years, it levels off. They then adapt their lifestyle, to fit the limitations of their business. Whether they know it or not, they are in just as big a rut as they were, when they worked for someone!
The answer? Fit your business around your lifestyle
I believe the answer is to turn the model on it’s head and fit our business around our preferred lifestyle. In other words, we need to decide the income we want and the number of hours we want to work and draw up a new plan to take us from where we are right now, to the quality of life we deserve.
I meet people all the time, who have seen their business results reach a plateau. Their business may have grown a little or shrunk a little, but it’s not growing in the way they originally planned, when they were inspired to start their business at the beginning. Those dreams of the good life are a distant memory.
For example, they live where they can afford to live – not where they want to live. They find themselves having to constantly settle for less. They also have to spend too much time away from their families and friends – because their whole lifestyle is designed to fit around their business – which is NUTS!
Instead of being on top of their business, their business is on top of them!
So, right now, decide to reclaim your dream
Right now, if your business is not rewarding you with the results you need, in order to enjoy the lifestyle you want, CHANGE IT! Reclaim your dream – get back in the driving seat and plan for what you want. I suggest your new plan is based around developing your business, so that it generates the income you need, in order to give you freedom of choice.
Money is very definitely not everything, but it does give you options. It gives you the option to decide how many hours to work, and with whom you work. It gives you the option to decide where you live and in many cases, it can help you live a longer and healthier life too.
Don’t allow yourself to settle for less than you deserve and don’t be fooled into thinking that the good life is for others and not you! With the right plan and the motivation to put that plan to work, you can achieve anything you want to.
What’s your take?
Photo: Melody Campbell
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Good stuff, Jim. So true, how flipped around and bass-ackwards most people’s lives are.
As entrepreneurs, we know that if we let our foot off the gas, we’ll eventually coast to a stop. Suddenly taking some extra time with the family seems like a dangerous idea, not a good one.
This is why you need to expand and diversify into selling information, not just services and physical products. The Chines have an old saying, which I love: “The journeyman makes money while he’s awake, but the master makes money when he sleeps.”
I meant “Chinese,” sorry.
I like how you compare it to stepping off the gas and gliding to a slow halt.
Thanks Michael!
When I left corporate life a decade or so ago, it was to create a better life for myself, but if I’m honest, until about six months ago I was in that self-employed rut. Recently, however, I’ve decided enough is enough and turned the tables so that I can put life first. I’m going through one of the biggest life and work transitions I’ve ever experienced, central to which is developing a business that’s largely based around my blog, that’s giving me much more personal freedom and creativity than I’ve ever had. It’s a scary ride, but I’ve never felt more alive. Still work in progress, but if you don’t try, you don’t get!
Christine Livingston´s last blog ..Don’t button your lip on the most depressing day of the year
You know what I think Christine? I think we are all a “work in progress” – just that some of us don’t realise it!
Thanks for the comment and insight into your world.
“Freshness is key” – These are the words a musician friend of mine used to make taped on his mixing board. I always need to refresh and regenerate.
Questions help me with this:
1. How does my business put friends and family first?
2. What does m business / life need to look like for my friends to be blown away? What will make them ask, “How did you do that?”
3. And because I’m a punk-rocker at heart: How is kicking ass with my business a political statement against the Corporate America Mind F**k?
John Haydon´s last blog ..How to Make Social Media Wheelchair Accessible (Day 21)
John – Thanks for one of the more original comments I’ve seen in a while and some great suggestions!
Jim – Thanks for such a motivating post!
John Haydon´s last blog ..How to Make Social Media Wheelchair Accessible (Day 21)
Awesome questions, John. I’m writing them into my journal for keeps!
Thank you.
Christine Livingston´s last blog ..Don’t button your lip on the most depressing day of the year
Also, if you have not already done so, check out John’ blog at http://johnhaydon.com
I’m flattered, Christine.
John Haydon´s last blog ..How to Make Social Media Wheelchair Accessible (Day 21)
The problem is most people simply settle. That’s why they are essentially sitting still and in the same place 5 years later.
Indeed.
Great post Jim. You once again have highlighted in a very straightforward way the “business as usual” a.k.a. “firefighting” a.k.a “I don’t have time to think” state of mind that all of us find ourselves in from time to time. So true – we need to control our own destinies and make our businesses work for us and not the other way around. Love John’s questions too!
Perhaps another simple question should simply be finding the answer to “Why am I doing this?”
Some good points there Barney, thanks for sharing.
The fire-fighting approach to business management / development is stressful, unfruitful but EXTREMELY popular
Hi Jim
Sound like you read The 4 Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferris – it’s a brilliant and inspiring read.
Cheers
Ewan.
I am inspired… again and love the comments by John and Christine. Sometimes this is the most important message we have to ask. “Are we loving what we do and doing what we love?” or have we fallen back into the trap of running our business in the same way as the things we hated in a corporate position. If so, we need to change. I get bogged down like Christine said and have to reprogram regularly. Thanks for the reminder and inspiration!
Julie Walraven | Resume Services´s last blog ..Cultivating Networks —> Right Place, Right Time