Are you like millions of other entrepreneurs who have gotten caught up in the hustle culture and think that the longer hours you work, the more successful you’ll be (or appear to be)? Have you ever stopped to think if the reason you really got into business for yourself was so you’d never eat dinner with your family again or get to take a vacation? I’m here to tell you that being a successful entrepreneur does not mean you need to spend 80 hours a week at the office or run yourself ragged trying to be everything to everyone. The truth is, you can still achieve that income you want and still a lifestyle that allows you to be home every night for dinner (along with plenty of relaxing weekends and nice vacations thrown in.) These three things will help you do just that.
#1. Know Your Worth
Do you really know what you’re worth as an entrepreneur? I’m talking what you’re worth down to the dollar amount. If you don’t know, you’re likely doing tasks that are far under your “pay grade” and wasting time and energy doing it. It’s pretty easy to figure out your worth. Just divide your gross income by the number of hours you work per year and you’ll have your answer. For example, if you work 3000 hours a year and make $300,000, your “worth” is $100/hour.
#2. Delegate
Now take a look at all the tasks you don’t enjoy (or aren’t good at) that you could sub out for less than what you are worth. Hate writing blogs? It’s likely you can find someone really good at it who would only charge you $25 an hour. Feel overwhelmed with having to schedule all your social media posts for the week? Yep, there’s also someone who will do that for you (and likely do it better) for much less than what you get per hour.
When you figure out how to get rid of all those tasks that are wasting your time and sapping your energy, you can get more done in fewer hours and free yourself up to get home for dinner. Once you get really good at it, you can probably even make it for a pre-dinner cocktail with your spouse.
#3. Make a NOT To Do List
We’ve all got that to-do list on our desks, and I’m certainly not telling you to get rid of it. To-do lists keep us on task and give us a sense of completion when we’re able to cross things off. I’m suggesting you add another list to your arsenal: a NOT to do list. These are all the things that take up time that aren’t necessary to the growth of your business but that you still do because you think you have to. For example, I work with a lot of financial advisors who still prepare quarterly reviews for their clients even though it’s only mandatory to do this once a year. If you just talked with your clients and asked them, it’s likely they would be fine with an annual or semi-annual review—especially if all their goals are long-term. When you eliminate tasks like this, you streamline your operations, free up your time to work on what really matters, and take your business to the next level with less effort.
Being so busy you never see the light of day is not a badge of honor—it’s a sign you’re doing something wrong. When you do the three things in this blog, you’ll have less stress and more success and always be home in time for dinner.Need help creating the business of your dreams? Take my quiz to get started.
