It was a requirement by my mentor to attend certain events. The motive and intent were for my good. Learning the same business and personal training was a valuable experience.
As I observed her life and the craziness of the event, she said to me, “If you want what I have you have to do what I’ve done.”
Without hesitation, I said, “I don’t want what you have! Weeks without seeing your husband, working so hard and long that you collapse and hardly get any sleep. That isn’t my definition of success. That isn’t how I want my life to look. No thanks.”
I know it’s one thing to be driven and “hungry,” but you can’t be so out of balance for a long period of time without it literally making you sick and tired, burned out with damaged relationships.
My dad often said I needed to work three jobs, come home, pull weeds, and cook a hot dog, and go, go, go every minute. Work hard, yes. However, that pace and method look different for everyone. Many people brag how many jobs they are working while building their dream and business. They wear it like a badge of honor and may discredit people who aren’t working as hard as they are and even label others as lazy.
Is it worth it? Have you taken on more than you can handle? What consequences have happened?
I see it often. Business owners are taught they need to sign up for every program, group, and training. Keep in mind to choose what works for you and not get caught up in the marketing aspect of it.
On top of that, you are told it’s necessary to lose sleep, sacrifice time with your family, and work until you drop.
Yes, sacrifices are necessary, but at what cost? That can’t be the only way to achieve your dreams. Fair warning, it may result in resentment from your family, friends, and clients.
Pushing yourself to burnout isn’t benefitting anyone. Working multiple jobs while building your dream will affect how and if you show up. That will compromise your reputation and whether or not people can trust you.
Life happens and we all have missed or been late for meetings and appointments. It’s when it’s more the norm than the exception that causes problems.
Keep in mind when you set a date and time for a meeting and are late, unprepared, or a no show, what message does that send to your client? Repeated apologies get old real fast.
Your plate is not only overflowing, its breaking. The tasks you forgot to do or put aside affects more than you, it spills onto your clients. You tell them their project is being worked on, but is that just an excuse due to the way you managed or mismanaged your schedule?
If none of this matters, and the way you are doing things is working for you, keep doing what you’re doing. Success looks different for everyone.
Those of you who are ready to admit you can’t keep up your current pace and there is too much on your plate, maybe these 8 recommendations will help.
- Evaluate your current status. How many jobs do you have? How many trainings and groups are you in? Are you able to give your best to all of them or do you just pop in to make an appearance? Invest in yourself, yes. However, if you are in too many things at once, no human has the capacity to reap the full results and benefits.
- Does anyone get your full attention? Multitasking is an illusion. Active listening is a skill. How many times has someone been talking to you and you only heard bits and pieces, if anything, because maybe you were texting or doing other things while pretending to listen? Did that save or cost you time? What message did that portray to the person in front of you? Important note: If you rarely give full attention to your spouse, one day you make look up and they’re gone. If your marriage isn’t important and you prefer to be away from each other, then that may not matter. Love and happiness look different for each couple.
- Who and What are Your Priorities? We are all created by God for a purpose. That doesn’t mean you have to cram too many things into each day. God wants us to enjoy life in abundance. What does that look like for you? Stop and see the big picture. Dreams are important, but when you’re on your death bed will you wished you worked more? Or did you work so much it literally killed you? These are things we often don’t consider because we are racing the clock every day. Personally, the harder I push myself results in sickness and exhaustion which is costly in many ways. That doesn’t make me a wimp or lazy. Discover what’s right for you and prioritize accordingly.
- Pace yourself and know your limitations. Rest is a must in these human physical bodies. If you don’t, your body will rebel at the most inconvenient times, which will affect not only your health, but the commitments you made with your clients.
- How is doing everything yourself working for you? Hanging onto control of it all will cost you one way or another. For example, did you schedule a webinar, but you didn’t show up on time? Everyone has a learning curve with technology, but that’s when it’s good to practice or get help. If you or others were promoting a specific day and time and inviting people to the webinar, but it ended up changing at the last minute, that will affect whether or not people show up and wait for you or not show up at all. Before your meeting or webinar, assure that you have correct logins, resources, and presentations ready to go and you tested them ahead of time.
- No More Delays or Assumptions. It isn’t always about a client’s expectation of when each phase of their project gets completed or not. It also involves how you schedule your time and anyone on your team. Setting and meeting deadlines involves many people and their priorities. Missing meetings, not responding to messages (especially in a timely manner), and assuming your client will contact you all result in delays. Clear and timely communication is essential.
- Get Help. If you are exhausted and not able to keep up with everything and everyone, it’s time to get help. You can’t afford not to. Otherwise, you are risking your reputation, trust, and business.
- Remove things off your plate. When you keep piling on more things, other things will get buried, including yourself. There is a time and season for everything. Not everyone can successfully juggle too many jobs and clients and fit in family and fun. It will be like a house of cards waiting to fall. You may end up oversleeping and not hearing the alarm.
Hopefully, this was a wake up call for you and provided valuable considerations and solutions. Look at what is packed into each day. Make changes, adjustments, deletions as needed.
Observations and personal experiences brought me to write this message. Reach out if you need recommendations for assistance in managing your life and business.
Wishing you wellness, success, and happiness and the time to enjoy it.
