Today I’m going to share a little insight into something that happened to me. I’m going to share this with you in the idea that hopefully you can see it happening in your life and pull yourself out, even a little quicker than I did.
See, about a month ago I started my fifth business. All my businesses are actually been created around my life and my lifestyle. This fifth business, we’re actually coming out to solve a solution that we saw a need for in the fitness industry. You see, in the fitness industry, there’s a lot of people that’ll help out business owners with their marketing, but only pick out one vertical. So, maybe that’s just social media or PPC or actually organic traffic. We wanted to create a complete solution that automated that process for fitness professionals at a price that they could afford. This has never been done.
What we did, my partner and I, is we put our heads down for the last couple weeks and really got to work. We got to work brainstorming on how we could fit this in. What were all the possible things that a business owner could possibly need? Obviously, I’ve been a business owner in the fitness industry for almost two decades. We know exactly what’s needed. Now it’s time to get to work, and we’re passionate about this. Now along this way, I got burnt out. I was putting in the long hours. I was putting in the work. I loved what I was doing, but I was missing things along the way. Now, of course, there’s seasonalities in business, seasonalities in your life. There are seasons where it’s time to play and there are seasons where it’s time just to get to work and get it done.
Now it’s time to get to work, and we’re passionate about this. Now along this way, I got burnt out. I was putting in the long hours. I was putting in the work. I loved what I was doing, but I was missing things along the way. Now, of course, there’s seasonalities in business, seasonalities in your life. There are seasons where it’s time to play and there are seasons where it’s time just to get to work and get it done.
Along that way, what happened to me was I was actually missing time with my family. I was missing time with my son, who’s only ten weeks old. I was missing time out playing. My in-laws were here and people were out hiking or floating down the river or going kayaking. I was missing these events because I was here, in my office, getting things done. Going crazy on the whiteboard. Trying to figure out the absolute best product we could put onto the market. We had it. Now we got to build it. I was excited about that, but what I was doing was drinking copious amounts of coffee, keeping myself up late. I just wanted to get done because then, I could go play. Finally, just yesterday, my wife pulled me aside and said, “You are going to go down the river.”
Now, what she meant was, “You need to take a break. You need to step out of this work and actually go float on the river.” There’s a river right by our house, and it’s absolutely gorgeous. I had been passing on this. The reason I had been passing on this is I was building the product with the idea that we could hand it off to the rest of our team, which we typically do, and they could go and actually put it into action. We were almost there. We had about 10% to get it across the finish line. My business partner was even messaging me, saying, “Hey, get outside. You’re working hard. You’re working almost too much. Get out and enjoy life.” You know? This is something that I preach all the time, but I knew in that seasonality of that this is the time to get the work done, but I also was missing out.
So reluctantly, I shut my laptop down with only about 5% of the work left to be done, and I went floating on the river. Now, I got to tell you that this lit me up. Being in the water, floating down, the sun on my face, trees out there, absolute beautiful environment with people that I love filled my soul. It filled my soul to such a level that I was able to come back into the office the next day and get that 5% done and get it done with enthusiasm and more efficiency than I could have possibly done otherwise. I’m sharing this insight with you because I know a lot of you out there are doing the same thing; you’re grinding it out. I applaud you for that. Sometimes it is the seasonality to grind it out, but remember the why you’re doing it.
It filled my soul to such a level that I was able to come back into the office the next day and get that 5% done and get it done with enthusiasm and more efficiency than I could have possibly done otherwise. I’m sharing this insight with you because I know a lot of you out there are doing the same thing; you’re grinding it out. I applaud you for that. Sometimes it is the seasonality to grind it out, but remember the why you’re doing it.
You see, what I missed were those precious few moments with my son that I could have stepped out and spent with him or that precious connection time with my wife because, by the time that I came out of the office and went home, I was actually tired. I was worn out. I had given my everything for this business. I’d given my all to create this product that would better the world, that would better these fitness professionals who would take this product and then help other people. What a great story. I loved it, but I wasn’t being the author of my own story, and I found myself out of balance. Even though I was in that seasonality of grind, it wasn’t the outcome that I was desiring. That small step of taking the time to float down the river filled my soul, filled my relationships, filled my tank.
I’m sharing this with you again because I want you to look at what you’re doing now. Maybe you’re like me. Maybe you’re in the seasonality of grinding. Or maybe you’re like the old me, maybe you’re the business owner who’s always grinding. I didn’t end up with five businesses because I just sat on my butt; I worked my tail off. During that, I lost a lot of things. I lost relationships. I missed out on a lot until I figured out how to be the author of my own story. That’s why I provide these daily growth hacks. I provide these daily growth hacks so you don’t make the same mistakes I did. I’ve invested way over $100,000 in personal development and business development and I want to give that all to you.
One of the things I want to remind you about is, what is your why? Why are you doing the things that you are doing? Open your journal and write those down. Write down your real reason why and then take the time to enjoy them. You get the chance to be the author of your own story today. Go out and float down your own river. That’s it for me today. Have a great day. As always, go to authorofyourownstory.com, where you can get more tips, tricks, and insights to help you become the author of your own story.
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