These are not the headlines we read...
“I had a ‘fewer arguments with my husband’ month.”
“I finally had my first ‘running business and being involved in church ministry simultaneously & successfully’ week.”
“I can’t believe I got around to cooking a super-healthy meal for my family AND made time for my business today.”
These are not the headlines we read.
Because the big money months are the ones people click on, right?
Well, let me just say… not this girl.
Yes, generating income is great and it’s something I talk about in depth with my clients and those in my programs.
But it’s not everything.
Being strung out in front of a laptop until 2am every day just to ensure our businesses are making money is no way to live.
I tried that at the start and although I was making money, I was stressed, tired and letting other areas of my life slip. I was snappier with my husband because I didn’t want to be distracted. I was annoyed with church engagements coming up because ‘I had work to do’.
But then I took a step back and realised that I didn’t build my business to live that kind of life. Not by any means.
So I stopped doing the things I wasn’t aligned with. I don’t just work with anyone who gets in touch if I know they won’t be an ideal client. I don’t run a program I ‘could run’ if I don’t feel connected to it. I don’t waste time on tasks I don’t need to be doing. Instead, I look at who I want to be as I live out my WHOLE life as a business owner.
I recognise that, just as much as I’m called to mobilise faith-focused entrepreneurs to live out the call on their life and generate income and have impact as they do so, I’m also called to the city I live in, the husband I married, the friends I’ve made & the family I’m in.
My business isn’t separated from those other things. I run my business on my own terms and that means I get to decide when I’m working and when I’m volunteering on a team at church. It means I get to decide whether or not I’m building a sales funnel or having dinner with my husband. It means I get to decide whether or not I’m doing a live stream or hanging out with my sister.
And of course, I generate more monthly income now than ever.
Because that’s what happens when you’re in alignment, doing the work you’re meant to be doing.
So before we talk about your big money months and the #laptoplifestyle you’ve achieved, can we talk about how you’re LIVING?
Can we make business a PART of the bigger picture as opposed to the whole camera reel?
While I was getting my business off of the ground there was so much that I would see as a distraction as opposed to just LIFE. Whether it was ministry, husband, family commitments, meet ups with friends. It was like my mind would go back to the ‘when can I get back to work?’
I was totally off!
Yes, we’re pursuing passion and purpose and we LOVE our work.
But the aim of doing this kind of work is so that we fall in love with our LIVES.
The lives we create for ourselves with the freedom our businesses offer us.
The lives in which ALL areas thrive and not just one.
I don’t know about you, but those are sort of headlines I want to read.
So do it! Create the LIFE you want to live and not just the business you want to run. You’ll find your business naturally thrives so much more if that’s the way you choose to run it.