Working through the work

As a young entrepreneur, I tend to work a lot.  I mean a lot.  I have been working through this and have a few tips that might help you not work soo much. 

Hustle is one of the most common words used in entrepreneurship today.  “Hustle and grind until you make it big.” “Keep the hustle and you are sure to succeed.” I agree that hustling through seasons is necessary, especially at the initial onset of a new company. It’s not what makes a company thrive.  Morals are what really makes a company thrive.

Know your support system.  We all have a support system whether it’s our spouse, parents, girl or boy friend, kids, friend, dog, fish, whatever, we all have a support system.  Lean on them.  They will help you to realize when you are working too much and need to slow down.  Learn to read the signs they are giving and listen to those signs. 

Numbers aren’t everything.  I’m a huge number guy so when it comes down to it, I love thinking in numbers.  1000 clients at $100 monthly = $100,000 monthly income.  I didn’t say I liked complicated numbers. Lol.  I have stopped letting that drive me though.  I don’t worry as much about the numbers as I do how happy I am and how happy my employees are. 

Try to get stuff done early.  Scheduling is a hard part of every business owner or entrepreneur life.  Use a calendar app that your whole family can see.  If you are having issues fitting in personal time, schedule it.  Before long, it will come natural and you will no longer have to schedule it. Date nights are crucial to bringing your best to the table all the time.  It can even be a date by yourself reading a book or binging your favorite shows.  Personally, my favorite shows are either MASH or that 70’s show. 

Outsource the things you don’t like.  If you are sitting there saying, “how can I pay someone to do something when I’m perfectly capable of doing it myself”.  Let me be the first to tell you that out sourcing the things you don’t enjoy doing will open up your life to more freedom.  Not to mention you are helping another business owner get his or her business up and going.  Don’t be afraid to let go of a few of those items, then sit back and watch your creative juices start to flow again. 

Get up earlier and go to bed earlier.  We are all designed differently but for me I enjoy getting up earlier than the rest of my family.  Heading to the home office and busting out an hour or so of work before my family ever even think about getting out of bed.  Then when they wake up, I get to greet my kids and possibly even make them breakfast before they head off to school.  I have found that first thing in the morning about 15 min after I wake up is when I have the best ideas.  I mean the best ideas.  Don’t start by waking up an hour early tomorrow though you’ll just be bogged down all day. Start by waking up 15 min earlier every week until you are getting up when you want to. 

Eat right.  I’m not super healthy, but I do believe that we all need to eat good food in order to push through those hard times.  If our body is struggling to digest the food we are eating then we are devoting energy there when we could be utilizing that energy for our projects.  All too often, I find myself grabbing lunch in town, and it’s not a good lunch.  I feel like Remy off the movie Ratatouille, the dad says, “Food is fuel, get picky about what you put in the tank and you won’t have any fuel.” I’m the exact opposite.  An old jalopy can run on junk fuel, but I want to run like a Ferrari so I need good fuel to maintain. 

Make time for God.  It sounds crazy, but I’m telling you that by adding 15 min of devotional time every day your schedule will be opened up.  How will adding something to my schedule free up time.  God works in mysterious ways.  I have found that when I take 15 min of my day to read the bible and pray, my day is less stressful.  When I don’t make time for it, I seem to run myself into the ground.  Take time every day for the one who created us. 

I definitely don’t have it all figured out, and I am sure that I will continue to fail at times.  You see here’s the thing, if you don’t fail, you can’t learn.  If you fail and don’t learn, stop everything right now because you are going to make the same mistakes again and soon.