Your Life Beyond Business™ – why Balance is Essential for Owners
I ran my own business for 28 years. Like so many other business owners, I dove all in. I worked six, sometimes seven, days a week. Twelve hour days were common.
And even when I wasn’t physically there, I was mentally still at the office, thinking constantly about personnel, sales, finance, and all the other issues for which I was ultimately responsible.
Sure, I spent time with my family and had my fun.
But business dominated my life.
It filled most of the space in my head and in my schedule.
Does this sound familiar?
Now, with the clarity of hindsight, I realize that life in my business was not balanced with my life beyond business.™
What is your Life Beyond Business?™
It’s the time you spend doing the things that are most fulfilling…
the relationships and activities that give you purpose.
You might want to play golf, travel, fish, volunteer, spend more time with your kids or grandkids – whatever floats your boat.
Malcolm Forbes once said, “When you cease to dream, you cease to live. When what we are is what we want to be, that’s happiness.”
Is your dream only to be a successful business owner, or do you have other dreams?
Is your life in your business keeping you from being who you want to be? Doing what you want to do?
You may be thinking, “I can’t think about my life beyond business. I have a business to run, Dave!”
My response:
There IS a way to run your business so that you can achieve success both in your business and in your Life Beyond Business.™
This is not an either/or choice.
But when I ran my business, I treated it like an either/or choice.
I had a beautiful lake house that I loved. I lovingly furnished and decorated it. I had grand visions of warm summer afternoons fishing in the lake and cool fall evenings staring at the stars.
And then…I never went there.
For the sake of my business, I stayed in town and worked incessantly. The lake house became an investment for me. I eventually sold it.
In retrospect, I regret how little I understood about Life Beyond Business™ at the time.
What if someone had asked, “What are the things you need to do in your business today to allow you to spend more time tomorrow at your lake house?”
The articles and information on this website focus on how you can work on your business so that you can simultaneously have a more fulfilling Life Beyond Business.™ Please, take the time to explore and learn from the many articles under the “What you Need to Know” tab.
The irony:
Those things you do to help you achieve a fuller Life Beyond Business,™ are things that will actually make your business stronger and more valuable.
That’s right!
The more you focus on achieving a fuller Life Beyond Business,™ the more your business will benefit – both in the short run and the long run.
