It’s about finding balance…..WRONG. rhythm
It is not about finding your balance, because you won’t – at least not sustainably.
Striving to find balance is a definite path to frustration, overwhelm and consistently feeling as though you have failed, from one perspective or another, as a 50/50 balance in life/business is not sustainable.
So please STOP striving for it.
What is possible? Rhythm is possible. And rhythm is absolutely sustainable long-term. In fact, you already have a rhythm. Let’s just make sure it’s a rhythm that actually supports the life and business you are striving for by ensuring you are prioritizing accordingly, so keep reading.
I’m sure you know when it comes to music, there are times the melody is in the forefront, and other times it’s actually the harmony that is heard more dominantly.
There also may be times where you might be performing a solo and sometimes you are part of the entire ensemble. (Yes, there’s a little music in my background – 8yrs of piano lessons and 4+yrs of the sax – alto, tenor and baritone. I’m also the proud recipient of the Joe Lapp Memorial Jazz Award in Jr High.)
I digress…back to finding your rhythm to create financial GROWTH and JOY in your life and business, sustainably.
The truth is life is a lot like music, somedays business demands may be a little (or alot) “louder” and other days your personal life has “louder” desires.
The key is prioritizing how you schedule your day, weeks and months consistently to ensure the overall “rhythm” of your life represents the music you want to live by. As the leader (or conductor if I’m sticking with the music analogy) this means managing your schedule with your priorities in mind.
As someone who was initially groomed in the corporate consulting world where my personal life was completely squeezed in around the business (and a philosophy I bought into at the time as I was very committed to climbing the corporate ladder in my 20s and 30s), I’ve been very clear as a business owner the last 10+years that this was no longer a philosophy I was willing to buy into.
I believe it is possible to live an “AND” life where I can truly find MY rhythm to achieve success in both business AND life – it is not an “either/or” life, it is an “and” life.
Just think of how boring music would be if there was only melody or only harmony.
The magic, beauty and joy is felt when the blending of the two happens.
Our lives are meant to be the same way!
So when I say managing your schedule with your priorities in mind – please know that I’m giving you permission to start with scheduling your personal life FIRST.😉
Here’s how I prioritize my calendar, and what I recommend to each and every client as well. These priorities ensure your personal life is in the forefront, with business supporting it and so you’re not left trying to squeeze life in around the business!
- Personal Appointments: Schedule all your personal appointments 1st (self-care, family time, date nights, dates with your kids, time with your parents/siblings/friends, after school activities, social activities, doctors appointments, hobbies, vacations, etc.)
- CEO Time: Next schedule your CEO time. These appointments are for your time to work ON your business (clarity of vision, strategic planning, coaching calls, mastermind, education, review and evaluation, AND continual development of yourself and your team, etc.)
- Sales: Next is sales and I’m sure you know there are two ways to grow a business, 1) increase sales volume or 2) increase pricing – well 3 ways if you consider a combination of those 2.🙂 Oftentimes I see business owners have a goal to grow the business and add a certain number of new clients – yet, they haven’t accounted for the increase in time it will take for actual sales conversations.This can mean more time on your calendar if you are doing the actual sales, or it may mean increasing your sales team.
- Marketing: If you are in growth mode, I would encourage you to swap #3 and #4, as marketing comes before sales. If you want to have more sales conversations, the pipeline more than likely needs ramping up as well and that comes through marketing (online and/or offline).
- Client Service/Fulfillment: Not only is this the time spent delivering on what was promised, it is also your opportunity to turn your existing clients into your raving fans. Work with your team to nurture those relationships and position yourself for as many renewals, cross sell and upsell opportunities as you can.
- Accounting: This is everything from invoicing, purchasing, collecting, AR/AP, bookkeeping, running and reviewing reports such as P & L, Balance Sheets, Cash Flow, Payroll, budgets, forecasts, etc.
- Administrative: Lastly, time for all the administrative needs.This isn’t last because it is the least important, however it is the easiest area to be delegating to others and usually the most cost-effective way to handle.
It is important to note, that as your business grows you can easily have team members supporting you in each of these areas, however as the leader, you still want to be accounting for how you are prioritizing where your time is spent – whether that is in actually conducting sales calls, or reviewing reports of your sales teams efforts and continuing to train and develop them; marketing the company or in reviewing reports reflecting marketing efforts; doing client service/fulfillment work or reviewing client assessments and strengthening your systems accordingly, same with accounting and administration.
The percent of time spent in any one of these areas may differ depending on your business maturity, the team size, goals and overall mode of operation (depending on whether or not you are in growth mode, status quo or if you’re seasonal, your focus may move to different areas at varying times).
And there you have it – permission and the blueprint to consistently and sustainably orchestrating your own personal rhythm to create more Financial Growth and JOY in your business and life.
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For the last 10+ years I’ve been using my optimization framework to help clients streamline and simplify their way to high 6 and 7-figures, while simultaneously creating an extra 8-10 hours a week of additional free time to spend doing things they love outside of the office (and this is done within the first 30 days of working together)!
If you are ready to create this in your business and life as well, I’m guessing it’s worth exploring with a 30 min call to see if we may be a good fit? Grab a day/time that will work for you and let’s start talking to determine if we’re a good fit.