Owning and running a business, done right, should give you MORE LIFE, not less. A business should be a vehicle for you to achieve more life, more fulfillment, more freedom, and more financial success. However, for many entrepreneurs, that is not the case. Instead of thinking and acting like owners and leaders, they end up toiling like employees and technicians. Very often they are consumed by their business, blinded by their busyness, and lost in the technical weeds of the operations. They become trapped by the very vehicle that should be giving them more life. They end up losing perspective, balance, and feel overworked, overwhelmed and like prisoners to their business. Does this describe you and your condition at times? If so, join the club…but commit to quit that club. This Growth Coach Blog should help give you the motivation to change.
At The Growth Coach, through a proven business coaching process, we help entrepreneurs discover more effective ways to manage their business and life … to get more from both worlds … to enjoy greater success and balance. But to start, we have to challenge them, wake them up, and get them to see the reality of their craziness. If running a business is painful, you are simply doing it wrong. However, as business coaches, we need to open up your mind, eyes, and heart to different ways of thinking and acting to get different results.
As business coaches, we are always striving to help our clients maintain a healthy work/life balance, see the big picture and keep a proper perspective. Again, a business should be but a means to an end, not the end itself. You don’t start a business to simply have a business … you start a business to make a difference, serve others, help others, and make a better life for yourself and your family. The end goal is not just to have a business, more money and pay huge sacrifices … it’s to have MORE LIFE. For all owners, the end should be to have a fulfilling, satisfying and rewarding life. As a business owner, you should be enjoying the journey now. Are you on track for that?
If not, step one, FACE REALITY. We only have so many weeks, months and years to live a rewarding and meaningful life. Case in point. I just read an article from The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in which their National Center for Health Statistics released their most recent life expectancy report. While a bit sobering and morbid, this report should get all of us, especially ultra-busy entrepreneurs, to pause, reflect, and adopt a big-picture perspective and a more balanced life.
Overall, the average American is expected to live for 78.2 years. While 78.2 years may seem like a lot, it translates into only 4,066 weeks in the average American lifespan. When you look at your life in weeks, it gives you a higher-level perspective and a sense of urgency to really live your life on purpose, with meaning, and with balance … and NOT to sweat the small stuff, work too much, and miss time and activities with your loved ones. It should be a wake-up call to get more balance in your life in order to have MORE LIFE.
As business coaches, we are always trying to give our small business clients gentle wake-up calls so they can correct course before it’s too late. Consider the 4,066 weeks in the average life to be your friendly wake-up call right now. How are you living your life week to week? Are you spending your time wisely? Do you have a proper perspective and balance? Or, are you wasting time worrying about things beyond your control? Missing out on family time and activities? Are you focusing on the people who really matter in your life? At work, are you focusing on the vital few tasks instead of the trivial many?
Forgive me, but at The Growth Coach, we practice tough-love business coaching. We are experts at challenging our small business clients to wake up and experience a sense of urgency to change course, when necessary. Let’s do that now. Understand, while this may be a bit unsettling for you, I only have your best interests at heart.
Let’s face reality BIG TIME. You and I don’t have forever to live, love, learn and leave a legacy … there is limited time on this planet for everyone! In order to better appreciate your precious and fleeting gift of time, let’s look at the average expected TIME WE HAVE LEFT to live our lives based on our current age. If someone is 40 years old today, they have roughly 1,986 weeks left based on these CDC statistics – already past mid-life. If they are 50, they have 1,466 weeks left on average. And if someone is 60 years old, they have only 946 weeks left on this earth according to the average lifespan. And yes, while I hope and pray each of us gets more time…the averages don’t lie. So use them to your advantage to experience MORE LIFE in the time you may have left.
Bottom line, we have a limited amount of time on this earth. How many of the 4,066 weeks do you have left? To calculate, subtract your age from 78.2 and multiply the difference by 52 weeks. On average, that’s the weeks you have left. So…how are you spending your remaining weeks? Should you be living your life differently? Running your business differently? Again, let this be your friendly business coaching wake-up call. Engage more fully with your loved ones. Stop putting important things off until tomorrow. Stop sweating the small stuff. Stop worrying about what you can’t control. Stop letting your business run your life. Love who you need to love, be who you should be, and do what you want to do.
As of today, the great news is that it’s not too late to change. Make the most of your remaining weeks. Remember, a business should be a vehicle to give you MORE LIFE, not less. Go for MORE LIFE!
