Serious Entrepreneur, is your life balanced or a balancing act? In business today, it seems we are under greater pressure than ever before. In our quest to be successful, we're working harder and longer just to stay in the race.
It often feels like one huge juggling act.
As internet marketers, we guide and motivate our team members, talk to prospective clients, reply to endless emails and text messages, keep up to date with all the new marketing strategies, promote our campaigns, get bombarded with guru launches that promise to make us richer faster and easier...and fit in time for our family and ourselves.
All without getting sick, run down, or burnt out?
In the January issue of Professional Speaker magazine, serious entrepreneur John Alston writes: "For some of us, work is our first love, and for those of us struggling to make our businesses work, there are patient and enduring lovers, spouses and children hanging in there with us. For others there are ex-lovers, ex-spouses and alienated children who can and will testify to what you really value."
Every job comes with a certain amount of stress, but having your own business -- and whether or not you market on the internet full-time, you must look at it as a business and NOT a hobby -- is a whole different ball game. And most likely no one taught you how to handle the pressure. It was sink or swim, and you worked out the inevitable challenges on your own.
The most successful internet marketers and business owners that I know have a passion for what they do. They are stimulated by the challenges and opportunities that come with being their own boss. They thrive on being entrepreneurs and discovering that next golden nugget that will take their business to the next level. They wake up excited to see what a new day will bring.
But they know when to shut the computer off.
Serious entrepreneurs who are truly happy have a life beyond checking their email, landing the next deal, and checking their spreadsheets for that day's sales.
They take time for "dates" with their spouses, attend their children's sports events and piano recitals. They hit the gym, fish and hunt, take guitar lessons, and have backyard barbecues. They take time to meditate, do yoga, read just to rejuvenate.
A balance between work, play, worship, and giving back to the community is not so much about finding the time to do everything equally. It's more about recognizing that time consistently spent engaging in the activities that we love the most feeds our soul and enables us to live a satisfying, grounded life.
If you find yourself saying, "I never have enough time to ..."
Stop! You'll never get it all done. The things on your to-do list never get completely crossed off. So, take stock and decide what means most to you, what you love to do. And the rest can either be forgotten or outsourced when it comes to your business.
Take just a few minutes and watch the inspirational video Finding Joy.
Albert Schweitzer said, "Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful."
Every newbie needs a mentor. We wouldn’t be where we are today without people who guided and encouraged us. We’d like to pay it forward. If you need help, just ask.
