A Better Way

 by JenniferWhite, President, The JWC Group

Broadcast of 4/9/99

Subject: Life, liberty and the pursuit of whatever you please.

A BETTER WAY
A nationally syndicated column
by Jennifer White
jencoach@successu.comI just saw an advertisement for Teva shoes that describes perfectly what most entrepreneurs want. It read: "Life, liberty and the pursuit of whatever you damn well please."

Isn't that why you started your business? Most business owners I work with tell me the reason they started their businesses was because they wanted to create their own destiny. Heck, that's why I became an entrepreneur. To do what I want to do whenever I want to do it.

But something always gets in the way for the entrepreneurs I work with. Too much work to take a vacation. Too many projects to take Friday afternoons off. Too much to do without the right resources or staff to get it all done. Too much fear that you'll go out of business if you actually do what you want to do.

I know. I've been there.

Then the day comes when you're sick and tired of working so much. You're tired of the burden of responsibility that comes with being a business owner. No, you don't decide to shut down your business and get a job. Worse. You decide on that fateful day that you want more balance in your life.

You think you had problems before? When you go for balance, your problems get worse.

Why? Because balance is boring. And it doesn't work.

The problem with balance is you're limiting yourself. You're always comparing how everything balances with work as if your life only has two focuses: your business verses everything else. When you go for balance, you're saying that your business is the most important thing in your life because you're constantly comparing everything against it.

You start defining your life by time. You're no longer doing what you please. You're instead always looking at your watch and time controls you. And that entrepreneurial, maverick spark inside of you goes crazy with your obsession with time.

So much for the freedom and autonomy you thought business ownership would bring. You're no longer free. Your watch controls you.

You can't balance it all. Please don't misunderstand. This doesn't mean you become a workaholic and work all the time. I want you to create a richly satisfying life outside of your business. That's why people hire me every day – to help them grow their businesses and still have a life. Getting a life is one of the main reasons you're an entrepreneur, after all.

Balance just isn't the way to get there. The answer: Give up your quest for balance and go for doing whatever you want to do when you want to do it.

How on earth do you do that? I knew you'd ask me that question. My response: Design your business around you first. Everything else - yes, even your customers - second.

That means you say no to projects you don't want to do. You make a profit on the business you provide. (Imagine that!) You carefully spend your time on the activities you enjoy doing. You work the hours that match your style. (If that means you go to the office at 11 a.m. rather than 8 a.m., by all means, do it!) And you make sure you don't suffer from being a business owner.

Designing your business around you means you have a fulfilling life outside of work. You have hobbies. You spend time with their families. You live with zest not just at work, but everywhere you go. You know that to be brilliant at your work, you must have time to replenish. So you take vacations. You have lazy days. And you still run profitable business.

Not because you're going for balance. Because you're doing whatever you damn well please.

Deep inside, that's what all entrepreneurs want. Do you have the courage to live that way? I bet you do.
Copyright 1999, Jennifer White. All rights reserved. Please do not duplicate this information without written permission.

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