Why does business suck the life out of your personal life?
Have we all got it so wrong?
A few weeks ago, I had to cancel a trip to the US that was for both business and pleasure. Mainly business, but a few days pleasure that I was seriously looking forward to. There were real reasons, which I cannot disclose here, but nevertheless, business was somewhat involved.
Then my beautiful girlfriend married the man of her dreams in South Africa, and I had to cancel going there too. More than $1000 down the drain, because South African Airlines don't reimburse you for cancelled flights nor do they give you a credit. Yet again, work got in the way.
Then this weekend, it's Easter and my two nephews are looking forward to spending the special occasion with their Aunt Mellissah. I have work to do and I was about to book a flight to fly to Queensland on Friday and back Sunday until...
A few weeks ago, I had to cancel a trip to the US that was for both business and pleasure. Mainly business, but a few days pleasure that I was seriously looking forward to. There were real reasons, which I cannot disclose here, but nevertheless, business was somewhat involved.
Then my beautiful girlfriend married the man of her dreams in South Africa, and I had to cancel going there too. More than $1000 down the drain, because South African Airlines don't reimburse you for cancelled flights nor do they give you a credit. Yet again, work got in the way.
Then this weekend, it's Easter and my two nephews are looking forward to spending the special occasion with their Aunt Mellissah. I have work to do and I was about to book a flight to fly to Queensland on Friday and back Sunday until...
My 10 year old nephew let me know that he wasn't too pleased.
His comments, "we came to Melbourne for a week and you are only coming here for 2 days. That's not fair."
Well... what do you say to that? Is business sucking the life out of you?
If you read my blogs, you would realise that I work really hard, but I do take time out for holidays too. Of late, for personal reasons and for business reasons, it has been a 7 day week job to run Marketing Eye and put everything in place to build the business off-shore. I haven't had time for coffee with girlfriends and have had only one night out in the last 2 weeks with friends. I am challenged to find time, let alone energy to do anything more than take myself to work in the morning and home in the evening, eat dinner, bath and head to bed.
Being an entrepreneur can be exhausting. It can take every ounce of energy if you let it. They say exercise helps moderate this feeling, but hey, I am doing my bit in that department too.
Does any entrepreneur really have balance. I am not talking about business owner, but an entrepreneur - someone looking to do something really great with their business? What's your thoughts?
What sucks the life out of entrepreneurs;
1. When you start a business
It's a given that if you don't put in the hard yards early - you never will and your business will suffer accordingly. Just like any relationship. If a man doesn't 'woo' you at the start, he isn't going to do it at any stage and if that is your expectation, then your relationship will fail. When I started my business, I worked around the clock putting everything in place, coming up with ideas, doing work and putting things in place for the future.
2. When things go wrong
When your accounts get out of control and people are not paying their bills. It causes stress and then everything else starts to spiral out of control. Or when a big account goes wrong, or when you don't have the right procedures in place to ensure that quality control is working as it should.3. You have vision
Sometimes I just want to click a button and turn off my brain. For some reason, this works when I am skiing - but I can't ski 12 months a year - so I need to find another solution. When you continually come up with great ideas and have the ambition to drive your business to new heights, its hard to separate work from pleasure. I don't know about you, but I lay awake in the middle of the night thinking about my ideas and all of a sudden, I realise that I have been awake for a couple of hours and really need to sleep in order to function.
4. You are a control freak
This is not me!! Thank goodness!!! But I see it all the time. People that are control freaks often believe that no-one can do things quite like them, so they do it all themselves. Thus, they spend way too many hours working and not enough time for themselves.
5. Yoga, Meditation and other forms of relaxation haven't hit your inbox
Only in the last 10 years have I found Yoga, and as for the rest, I am probably still searching. If you are a 'full on' entrepreneur, which I can be sometimes, finding Yoga or meditation particularly, can help you understand the world better and improve your work/life/balance.
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comments ( 4 )
Ren
11 Apr 2012Whether you are an entrepreneur or a person with drive in your life, we should always set sight on the goals and our visions ahead. This means we should have an idea of the bigger picture that we are striving for.
ReplyIf you don't have a vision.Try and work out,what is it that motivates you to carry on with your life and really excel? What keeps you alive, exhilarated, energised and excited?
A wise entrepreneur recently told me, that you should never plod along in life. You should always strive to reach your fullest potential in life, nothing less. This is the best way to challenge your self everyday.
As for relaxation:
I have yet to try Yoga, but I have heard it can improve your endurance not just your physical strength, but also your mental strength. Though I am all talk, I really need to try it out for myself. :-)
Brittany
10 Apr 2012Kids are so important to listen to because they are smart! They understand many simple things that we tend to ignore or let slip. However their innocence and truthfulness is important as it keeps us in check. Listening to children is great for adult perspectives as we can easily be caught up in the crazy mix of an adult life, but they provide the grounded advice that we sometimes can lack.
ReplyRaihan
07 Apr 2012Being away from home, I have not seen my family for close to a year now and I am missing out on my nieces and nephews growing years. Whenever I get the chance to skype with them, I'm always appalled at their vocabulary and colourful words! But my brothers just kept reminding me that they're progressing normally and I'm the one who's just missing out on it.
ReplyIt's true kids do sometimes bring things to perspective and it knocks some sense into you to make you realise that they see it too- just in a simpler form!
April Baker
03 Apr 2012Out of the mouths of babes! Kids really put things into perspective, dont they? Sometimes its a good thing that they dont have filters, like you said, it made you realise you have to stop and smell the roses, and eat the chocolate bunnies.
ReplyCant wait to see you! x x