Last week, I saw a photo on Facebook that made me grin from ear to ear.
One of my Make It Work Online clients snapped a picture while playing Go Fish in Starbucks with her 7 year old.
This is what success without sacrifice is all about: making time for what matters most to you.
As entrepreneurs, even though we desperately want moments like these, we don’t always have space in our day to make them a reality. Instead of freedom, space, and ease, we experience burnout, stress, and guilt.
It’s understandable! At every stage of your business it seems like something else is standing in the way of true freedom.
When you’re first starting out, it’s typical to do almost everything by yourself, so your business easily becomes a massive time-suck.
As you gain traction, you struggle to see the payoff you’re expecting, like a steady stream of new clients. So you feel like you need to do more and push harder to create the income you’re shooting for.
When you begin making a steady monthly income, you have so much going on inside your business that your life takes a backseat to client work, marketing, and content creation.
So is it possible to ever feel free?
You might think that if you had the right systems in place or the right team members, you would be able to work less and finally have the free time you’ve been waiting for.
But what if I told you that the key to your freedom doesn’t rely on your systems, your team, or your clients?
The reality is, your freedom (or lack thereof) rests entirely in your hands.
(I know, I know. You don’t really want to hear it!)
The good news? When you OWN the fact that you’re fully in charge… you can take charge!
The question then becomes: How do you take back control of your business and structure it in a way that sets you free?
That’s exactly what I want to show you how to do right now.
Signs You’re Sacrificing What Matters Most
Before you can create more space in your life and business, it’s important to first notice what’s not working for you.
How do you do that? Start noticing when you feel like crap!
For me, my stomach tightens, I feel generally irritable, or I want to crawl under the covers.
Click to TweetHere are a few signs that you’re feeling stifled by your business, rather than inspired by it.You resent your business or your clients.
We’ve ALL been there.
Your calendar is jam-packed with client calls or you have entire days blocked off to complete client work. When you look at your schedule, you feel nothing but complete and utter dread.
It’s not that your clients are bad people—or that you’re a bad person. It’s that you’re feeling burnt out!
The money you’re making no longer compensates you adequately for the time, effort, attention, care, and creativity you’re putting in. God forbid they ask for one more thing; you might do something illegal!
Your family and friends are resentful of your business and the time you spend on it.
Maybe you feel guilty for making a mac-and-cheese dinner (again!) for your family because you got sucked into responding to client emails.
Maybe your friends are frustrated that on a gorgeous, sunny Saturday you’re stuck inside trying to catch up on client work because you said yes to too many projects.
If you have to say ‘no’ every time your kids ask you to play, or your friends have simply stopped inviting you out, it’s definitely a red flag.
You’re exhausted most days.
Staying up until the wee hours of the morning or working through the day without a proper break are signs that you’re sacrificing your health and mental wellbeing for your business.
Deep down, you know that if you keep up this pace it will eventually catch up to you. But you have a hard time slowing down or stopping. Something inside of you is driving you to go go go, and it’s taking its toll.
Your creative juices are zapped.
If you sit down to write a blog post and come up empty, or you want to create a new offer but can’t figure out exactly what that looks like, it’s a sign that your creative freedom is suffering.
Maybe you’re stuck on what you think your business “should” look like instead of what you want it to be. Or maybe you’re coming from a place of desperation rather than being of service.
Whatever it is, something is keeping you stuck and stagnant.
You’re working more than you want to be working.
You schedule time off but don’t take it. Or when you do take time off, you’re acutely aware of all the work that’s piling up and that will be waiting for you when you get back, so you have a hard time relaxing.
Simply put, you feel chained to your computer, and you don’t see an end in sight.
Taking Back Control
As difficult as those feelings are, there is a silver lining. That pang you feel is actually a good sign!
Why?
What you really want to know is how to turn things around.
Here’s where to begin.
First, remember the promises you made to yourself when you were just starting out.
Deep in your heart and mind you remember why you started your business—so, take yourself back to that time and recall what inspired you to take the leap.
Maybe you dreamed that you would have the freedom to travel more, to pick up your kids from school, to remodel your kitchen with your own bare hands…
It may sound trivial to remember the promises you made to yourself but you must start here so you can aim toward the business and life you truly deserve.
The more connected you are to what you truly want, the easier it will be for you to create space for it (with some help from me!).
Hang with me until next week, when I’ll share the next step.
What Does Success Without Sacrifice Mean to You?
So tell me…
Why did you start your business in the first place?
What does success without sacrifice mean to you?
What are you not willing to sacrifice?
This is your permission slip to own it.
Here’s what to do now.
1. Leave a comment below answering the questions here.
2. Join me on a totally free, 6-week journey to creating success without sacrifice in your life and business. It’s going to change everything.
3. Come back next week for the next step to making success without sacrifice your reality.
You can have the freedom you long for. I’ll show you how.
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