Pulled Both Ways

Last post was soooooooooooooo long ago. I could feel guilty, overwhelmed, and just give up, or I can pick myself up, dust myself off, and start from today. I choose the later, so here is my next post.

The truth is, I’ve been busy with way too many things on my plate and dealing with the loss of our beloved pet that has been a part of my family for almost 17 years. Life happens and I know I will get through this, but I needed to take the time to mourn.

When you join the ranks of entrepreneurship, visions of having the freedom to spend time with your family, take off to have lunch with your girlfriends, or sneak away for a mini vacay with your significant other dance in your head.  After all, you are the boss now, right? Unfortunately, you wake up and realize it was all just a dream. The reality is that if you are serious about your business and look at it as more than a hobby, you will never work harder in your life and probably have less time than you ever imagined.  So when your child’s class ask for a chaperone, or your friend calls with a great offer, you find yourself pulled both ways. What to do? Go do the things you want to do and the business suffers or you pay the price in some way, or stay tied to your responsibilities and resent that your personal needs are not being met.

So how do we find an equilibrium so that we satisfy both our personal and business needs? First, we have to prioritize and recognize that if we give up the freedom to do the things we love, there will be a love/hate relationship with our business. Eventually that will lead to resentment, overload and burnout. Therefore, if you can schedule a FREE day once a week, or set aside a specific time once a day so that you can include family time, fun time, think time, relaxation time, or me time into your routine, you will be refreshed and excited about doing the things you need to do for your business.