I Once Told Someone That I Wish The Work Week Was 8 Days Long!

That’s when it was still fun. I can still remember those days, the early days of my business when I couldn’t wait to get started in the morning and I didn’t really want to stop at the end of the day. It was all so exciting, after years of corporate life I was finally working for myself doing what I really wanted to do.

I have to admit I was scared to death, this was the most exciting thing I’ve ever done, but at the same time it was the scariest thing I had done also. With with my wife and four kids we embarked on what has been an adventure of both pure exhilaration and sheer terror. If you are in business for yourself you know exactly what I mean, it’s a strange phenomenon, but it’s as real as life itself. The real question is… Does it really have to be this way?

Yep It Does, Unless…

The first mistake I made was that I did not have a clear picture of what it would look like when my business was finally successful. I didn’t have a vision, I didn’t know what I was working towards, I really couldn’t see anything bigger than just the day-to-day work, which by the way I found very rewarding and fulfilling, at least for a while.

I began to notice that there was more to my business and just the daily work, there were such things as bureaucracy, insurance, licensing, taxes, reporting requirements, permits to pull, job material to order, bills to pay, estimates to work on, marketing, clients to meet with…Oh, and did I mention also the daily work. I slowly began to hate all of it.

It’s Time To Hire Some Help

At this point I did the obvious thing, I hired an employee to free up my time. I guess I did not plan that very well either because instead of freeing up my time it became one more task for me to manage. I began to resent the fact that my employees were the last to arrive, the first to leave, and the first to get paid, while I was the first to arrive, the last to leave, and the last to get paid, if I got paid at all. For the record, this was not my employees fault, this was my fault. I failed to plan how employees would contribute to seeing the vision become a reality. I did not leverage their skills and abilities in a way that most effectively allowed me to grow our business in a purposeful and profitable way.

What ultimately resulted was more volume of work, more bills to pay, more stress, more frustration, and less time to enjoy life…at least before going into business I truly did enjoy life, now I had a mess.

It Can Be Fun Again!

Not all businesses end up this way, and yours doesn’t need to either.  I discovered that with some deep searching from within, a clear vision for the future, a solid action plan, and a persistent work ethic I could get my business life out of the mud and begin experiencing real joy in my work once again. If you are finding yourself where I was just a few years ago, do yourself a favor, stop making a bigger mess, get control of your future starting today by Casting a Vision, Developing a Plan, and Taking Action.

These may be the first steps you take in being more Intentional about your Legacy. If I can be of any help please e-mail me randell@intentionallegacy.com  I would love to see you get your life back and experience real joy in your business again.

Blessings,

Randell