It’s all a juggle. Running a business can easily become a huge time suck that takes you away from the other important things in your life. Finding what works best for you takes time, whether we’re parents, or partners, or part time musicians or studying. There’s a lot we want in life, not just a business. But how do you integrate these parts in one big fat lovely life?
If our life is just about our business, then it takes away the joy and time spent on the other loves in your life. Finding the sweet spot in terms of the amount of time you spend and what brings you the most joy is important to our mental and physical health. Here’s how I help my clients integrate all the pieces of their life for maximum joy.
1. Review your values
I’m sure that it seems strange to many that this is the first place to start. It’s not something that we often think about, especially when it comes to our business, but it is an important driver of a happy life. If you are living aligned with what you believe in, then you will feel more content in how you feel about all the separate pieces of your life.
Think about 5 things that really resonate with you or that are important to you. Is it honesty, gratitude, motivation, family? Just Google a list of values and see what you come up with. A different way at looking at what values are important is to think about what repulses you or makes you feel guilty and you’ll find the values that mean a lot to you.
2. Look at the decisions and pain points
What decisions are causing you the most stress at the moment? List them out in a table against your values to see which ones you need to live with, and which ones you can ditch as they don’t belong with your values. As an example, will you need to travel interstate a lot? If family is high on your values, then it’s quite easy to make the decision not to participate in interstate travel.
| HIERARCHY OF VALUES | ||||||
| Decision point | Family | Integrity | Honesty | Make lots of money | Community | Outcome |
| Increase interstate travel | X | – | – | √ | – | X |
| Evening speaking events | X | X | – | √ | – | X |
| Work one less day (go part time) | √ | √ | √ | X | – | √ |
| Spend less time working on business | √ | √ | √ | X | – | √ |
3. Work out time v money
When you are clear on your values, decision making becomes easier! Now that you understand what is important to you in order to live a purposeful and happy life it then becomes a simple calculation of the time you have available and setting realistic financial goals for your business.
This is where I can help you understand the actual time you have to work on your business and what that means in terms of how much money you can make.
Guilt around working on our business sets in when we don’t have a clear view on our values and what brings us the most joy. It’s important that we not only love what we do but have a healthy balance between all the other pieces of our life. When you are happy, you have more energy, more joy and live a more purposeful life. And all of this means that we are more likely to be successful in your business life too.
If you’d like to know more about how your values can drive your business success, book in for a free chat. Let’s get you back on track and putting all the pieces of your life into the right place.