Home Business Tips and Designing a Life may not seem like they fit together. However one of the most common reasons we start a home business is for lifestyle. But all too often we become a “slave” to the business and have no life at all. Feelings of overwhelm soon become very common.
You are the architect of your life so take control and decide what you want your life to be like. Your business is only part of it.
I have had the good fortune to work with many great teachers. One of these was Dr Fred Grosse. I attended a twelve month wealth mastermind program with Dr Fred. One of the goals of the course was to double your income by working less hours (that is what got my attention!). As part of this program we designed our life. We started by breaking it down to daily activities and include things that make our heart sing.
I was amazed at how many people in our group were out of touch with what they enjoyed doing. The participants were mainly small business owners and they worked around the clock.
Watch this video to learn how we we started designing our life.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GxfnJBnp1k[/youtube]
I have previously written on this topic and you can read them here Designing a life with Purpose and Designing a life with Purpose – Part 2.
I will be back with more tips on designing your life. Until then please make a start on listing your 10’s, 25’s and the big ones.Please also leave me your comments below and if you think the information is valuable please share with your friends.
Oliver Tausend says
Hi Sue,
who wouldn’t be able to relate to what you write in the introduction of your post: We start our home-based business for the reason of lifestyle and end up in a different rat race, lol.
We tend to forget our initial reasons when we are a couple of weeks or even months down the road. Lost sight of our goals because of work…
The exercises you suggest can help tremendously to get back on track again and to achieve more with less.
Thanks for sharing your insights.
Take care
Oliver
Sue says
Oliver how beautifully put “ending up in a different rat race” – oh so true 🙂
The exercise is really good for shifting the focus to lifestyle and having some balance again. It also has helped me stay in a more grateful state.
Have a great day.
Sue
Joe Young says
Hi Sue,
Excellent ideas. May sound like a lot of work, but as Robert K. would say about taking risks, it is a risk not to! We just might find that we have been missing out on a lot of healthy activities we really need in our lives.
I have a tendency to bury myself in work, so I appreciate what you said here today.
God Bless,
– Joe
Sue says
Joe I relate to you so much. I still bury myself in work too much. However I do include some “me”things each day.
Start making your list 🙂
Take care
Sue
belinda cunningham says
Hi Sue
Great points here and I know I am one that finds it hard to know what makes my heart sing and then doing it. I have to work hard at making sure I include something in my day that is fun. Taking the time to do what I want is sometimes overlooked. I want to know if you doubled your income and worked less after doing the course.
Belinda
Sue says
Hi Belinda
I have been wondering when I would get asked the question you have asked. And the answer is no and yes. A long story and I will share more as I go through more of the activities but I realized my day did not include many things that made my heart sing. So I made some big changes and one included leaving where I was working so I actually had no income as the course was finishing 🙂 – and I was working a lot less.
That is okay as it gave me a basis for a different way of doing things and I am working on getting the income up there again in a different way.
I also subscribe to taking a few steps backwards sometimes to move forward.
Sue
Lloyd Dobson says
Hi Sue,
I enjoyed your post concerning having a home based business. Most people get involved with their home based business with the mindset that it is a hobby instead of a business. When you treat it as your business, it is amazing how successful we become.
The other issue is they don’t know how to market the business. Their upline tells them to make a list of all their relatives, friends, neighbors and co-workers and show their great opportunity. However this is their training and not a good plan. Success lies in the knowledge + action + a positive attitude of how to market and drive traffic to them.
Go out and make this your best day ever!
Lloyd Dobson 🙂
Sue says
Lloyd I agree with you that most people have the hobby mindset for their MLM business. I know a lot of people doing Internet Marketing without the MLM and I think they are a bit different from my observation.
And the not knowing how to market is definitely key.
Thanks for finding me.
Have a great day.
Sue
Zutchelli Morales says
Hi Sue… Another great post that is worth reading… Thanks a lot for sharing… This statement catches my attention “double your income by working less hours”…
Sue says
Thanks Zutchelli. Yes doubling your income by working less hours is something I think most people would like. We spent a lot of time analyzing were we were spending our time and becoming smarter about it.
Have a great day.
Sue
Don Enck says
Sue,
Boy Sue, I think I want to come visit you and hang out and do some those 10’s and 25’s with you. They sound like a lot of fun.
I’ve taken part in a couple of different exercises that help to design your ideal life. However, as a business owner I can say that it’s pretty easy to get caught up in the day to day activities and forget about the little things.
This time of year as we approach the New Year is always a time to pause and reflect and look ahead. It sounds like your ideas here are pretty timely. Thanks.
Sue says
I actually changed many things in my life when I worked with this guy Don. And now my 10s and 25s are very much a part of it. I hope that we will get to do some 10s and 25s together sometime. I am sure we will get back to the US again soon.
Yes as a business owner it is so easy to get caught up working.
I am with you this time of year is a good time to pause and reflect.
Take care
Sue
Linda G. Cox says
Sue,
I really enjoyed this post. I have to say that I’ve always enjoyed what I’m doing. I wonder if I was enjoying because I was doing, or doing because I was enjoying. No matter, I’ve always done what I enjoy! Then my speed bump of MS. Because of the MS, I’m not able to do may things in life. None-the-less, I’m finding many enjoyable activities!
Linda
Sue says
Now Linda that is getting deep – the enjoying because you were doing or doing because you were enjoying – which do you think it is?
I love that you still do some wonderful things and do not let MS stop you. You are an inspiration.
Sue
Terry Petrovick says
Great info Sue!
I can tell that after being in this profession full time for over 17 years that it is absolutely true that you can design your own lifestyle IF you committed.
Commitment and vision are key in making this happen. Oh, and I guess two more things…consistency and self discipline…and I guess two more things…taking responsibility for your results and becoming an empowering leader.
I guess it takes a lot but it is certainly a journey worth taking.
Best of Success! Thanks for your leadership.
Terry
Sue says
Hi Terry
I think your 3 lots of 2 more things are all very valid. It is not an easy ride that is for sure but as you say a journey worth taking.
Have an awesome festive season with your family.
Sue
Michelle Morgan says
Hello Sue. yes I totally agree with you that we are the architect with our own lives thus we are the most responsible in every action and decisions that we wanted for our life. Thank you so much for sharing such an enlightening like this.
Sue says
Hi Michelle
Thanks for dropping by to my blog and for commenting. I agree with your words.
Have a great day.
Sue
Richard says
Very true.
When I started working from home, I always thought it would allow me to do much more stuff like afternoon trips to the theatre, since I could catch up on work in an evening, but I do seem to end up just working longer hours.
I think the trick is often simply to pre-plan what you want to do that week – don’t rely on spontaneity!
Sue says
Richard thanks for your comment.
I think we all have very grand ideas of how it will be when we start working from home. Then reality hits us.
I agree we need to pre-plan our week. My weakness is sticking to the plan and not falling into spontaneity. I can get to the end of the day and realize I have done nothing off my list. So I am actually setting times for when I do things.
Thanks for finding my blog.
Sue
Andrew Walker says
Hi Sue. Another great share from you.
I really love this part:
“You are the architect of your life so take control and decide what you want your life to be like. Your business is only part of it.”
You are absolutely right about it. Thanks for sharing this!
Sue says
Thanks Andrew. I know so many business owners who seem to see themselves as their business.
I like the idea of designing a life.
Take care
Sue
Adam Robinson says
People tend to get overwhelmed with a huge to-do list and find themselves not being able to get everything done, given the time that they have to accomplish everything. Having a mindset that every moment in our lives is precious is very important. We just need to make each moment of every minute count to find success. This includes lunch time, commute time, tv time, etc. There has got to be a way to be able to generate income and do all these things at the same time.
Sue says
Thanks Adam for your comment. I have just finished reading the 4 Hour Work Week. Tim Ferris has some great ideas on how to do it all. Have you read the book?
Take care
Sue
Mika Castro says
Home business is probably a good call especially for parents. This is very encouraging post from you! I hope to see more next time.
Sue says
Thanks Mika.I only wish I had a home business many years ago when I had young children. It would have been a better option.
Sue