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Are you nervous about balancing your life and overextending yourself? Do you feel like you’re always letting one or multiple balls drop and constantly struggling to keep all things afloat?
I want to show you how to build a successful business without sacrificing your family. You might not be able to keep those balls in perfect sync all the time, but you can juggle all your priorities. I have some juicy insight and helpful tips coming your way.
I was recently asked the following:
“What red flags do you look for within yourself and in your life to prevent yourself from becoming overextended at the expense of your family relationships, especially with your spouse and your children?”
The key is not waiting for the red flags. We don’t want to wait to see the red flags, we want to prevent them. By the time you see red flags damage has already been done. That doesn’t mean the damage is irreversible though but ideally, we want to look at prevention.
The key question is how do we avoid getting to the point where it impacts family relationships. The things that will prevent it will also be the things that will fix it. I have 5 things you can do to prevent yourself from overextending yourself while building a business and here they are.
Number 1 – You have to own your journey as an entrepreneur
If you are in the beginning phases of building a business, it is going to take time. It is going to put a strain on your time. There is going to be a demand for time. You have to realize these things and you have to accept them. It is what it is. The beautiful thing is if you do it right and invest the time, it will give you more time later. Instead of saying I don’t have the time, say I am making the time now so I will have more time later. It’s freeing to think this way.
Number 2 – Set your priorities
Someone will rarely say “I wish I made a million dollars more” at the end of their lifetime. Most people’s regrets at the end of life are related to the family. It’s all about relationships. Pay attention now to what will be important later. Set your family as a priority
Number 3 – Schedule your priorities
If your family is truly your priority, don’t assume you will by default do all the things you need to do. I personally have a thing I call the daily 5. These are 5 things I do every day. They aren’t urgent but they are important. If you don’t schedule them, they don’t get done. These five things push me in the direction of my most important goals. I spend time praying and meditating every day. I exercise every day. I also listen to a podcast or read a book that will inspire me. Additionally, I focus on having meaningful time with my kids. My spouse is also a priority. Tuesday night is date night and we schedule it. That’s our time to work on us. If we are going to work, we have to make it work.
Number 4 – Make periodic big deposits
Maybe you can have 1 or 2 family vacations every year where your family knows that is your time. A vacation doesn’t have to be extravagant but you need to make big deposits. Invest in those memories. Even if it is just a road trip, a weekend. It doesn’t matter. Spend time together and be present.
Number 5 – Communicate, communicate, communicate
You have to let your family know what’s going on with you. No one can support you and no one will know how to support you if you don’t communicate with them. Advocate for what you need and express where you are at. When there’s no communication a lot of assumptions are made. Sometimes we are even hurt by things that don’t even exist and might not even be real. You have to talk about it.
Remember, there is no arrival point. The more you can enjoy the journey, the better. Start depending on people to help and own your journey. You’ll end up enjoying your journey so much more when you do. You can have it all but you’re not going to have it all in equal dimensions at the same time. It’s all about doing it in sequence.
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