This week’s question from our portal “Ask Us Anything” comes from Wendy.
There’s a tug of war going in my brain. My ego, ambition, and drivenness cause me to have one foot on the gas for a long time—then my nervous system can’t handle it, and I’ll want to burn everything down.
I’ll get another wave of inspiration, and off I go again. I’ll go really hard; then my nervous system will be like, “Holy sh*t, hold back. I want to just hibernate, coast, and let finances catch up.” It feels like I’m constantly living on the edge. There’s stress, and there could be health consequences too.
I’m trying to balance everything, so that I don’t burn out. Is this related to the law of rhythm? Or is it that sometimes the gas needs to be fully ON, and sometimes you just need to coast?
There’s definitely different rhythms in our business. But I would ask yourself:
Do you have a lifestyle business or company? Or do you have a company that is your lifestyle?
Every business owner must answer this question for themselves. There’s no right or wrong answer. It’s about fitting it into your personality and what you want.
This question gives you another frame of reference for the standards and what you create in your business, so that you know how you can live your life the way you want to live it.
Very often when we go into business, we put everything into it. We put all of ourselves into it, but sometimes that runs away with us. We get on the bandwagon of, “Here’s what worked…” and keep repeating it.
It’s like a train pulling us down a track. One day, we wake up and think, “I don’t even know if I’m happy with this anymore. What kind of a monster did I create here?”
In that case, you have to go back and look at it differently.
If you’re getting to a point of craziness and you don’t like that—and if what’s most important to you is that your business provides for your lifestyle—then you have to say, “Okay, this is one way of doing things, but it’s not the way I want to do it. So, I’ve got to find another way to accomplish this.”
The idea is, you can create your business based on what’s important to you and how you want to live your life.
Making more money isn’t necessarily the objective all the time. If it causes you to step into a lifestyle you want no part of, it’s not that it’s bad—it’s just not for you.
You may have heard the phrase, “You’re either growing or you’re dying.” This is a law of nature, a law of science, and a law of business. But people misinterpret this and think the only way you can grow is “up.”
Growing “up” isn’t the only way to grow your business. You can also grow wide. You can grow in quality. You can grow in service.
People have beautiful little niche businesses that fit their lifestyle perfectly. They fly under the radar of competition. They make a ton of money. They get to do everything they want to do. They grow it in quality of service, in retention of customer base, and in happiness.
Happiness is an actual check for, “How well am I actually doing?”
But it is a rhythm. All businesses have a rhythm. But if the peaks are too hot, you’ve got to bring them down.
David
P.S. If you want to create the business you’ve always dreamed of, then I invite you to join me at my Art of Success Summit this October. Over 3 days virtually, you’ll immerse yourself in universal laws, which is the first step in changing your experience in life & business. This event is where many of my most successful clients took the first step in working with me!
To learn more about the Art of Success Summit taking place on October 23-25th, click here!