Many of us start a business with romanticized notions about what it is we’re motivated to achieve or accomplish, only to find out down the road that we’ve created more challenges or problems in our life that are just as big as the ones we’re trying to solve!
Whether you began your business because you weren’t able to do the thing that you love as your day-job, wanted to generated an open-ended income stream, or had high hopes of time freedom, once you crossed over that honeymoon period you may likely find yourself getting frustrated at just how dang HARD and stressful it is to run a business.
There’s a common saying that
An entrepreneur is someone who will work 12 hours a day to avoid working 9-5.
If this describes you, you may find yourself questioning at times, “Is this really worth it?”
You set out to chase your dreams, but now this doesn’t feel so much like a dream.
You had visions of creating a better life for your family, but now you barely ever spend time with them because you’re constantly working.
Sound familiar?
Except for those few odd birds who catapult to stardom and multimillion dollar success seemingly overnight, most entrepreneurs will experience this type of questioning throughout the early years of building a business.
While there are no easy answers, here are a few things I’ve picked up after going through my own peaks and valleys of side hustling for nearly 3 years:
First, it’s perfectly normal and healthy now and then to step back and evaluate exactly what it is you’re wanting to get out of your experience of running a business.
If you’re running a business to do the thing you love, it’s not traitorous to ask whether you really need to make what you love a business in order to do it.
Sometimes, turning what we love into a business strips away the joy of doing it by adding needless pressure.
(Check out this podcast interview with Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat Pray Love, for her surprising thoughts on writing for money.)
If you’re running a business solely because you think that’s the only way you can live your purpose, consider whether you could be fulfilled practicing that thing as a hobby, volunteer effort, mentor, etc.
If the idea of giving up your business, however, makes you angry for even suggesting it, read on for a different set of strategies for staying the course and fulfilling the lifestyle of your dreams–without selling your sanity.
#1. Identify the other stressors in your life.
Sometimes we blame our business for creating stress in our lives, when really it’s all the other things in our life that are mounting up that make us crazy.
A new move, childrearing, the car that’s in the shop, etc.–because dealing with those things are not optional, it can make our stress levels spill over into our business and start to question our efforts.
If that describes you, just stay the course and realize that taking away your business isn’t going to take away the source of stress.
#2. Delete and Delegate
Let’s imagine you went into business to be a creative writer. Chances are when you created your vision board, it didn’t include programming your opt-in series to sync up with the correct email list tags or troubleshooting how to adjust the equalizer settings on your podcast microphone.
When you start out as a solopreneur, though, you’re often doing ALL THE THINGS in your business.
Trim the things in your business that you hate doing that aren’t essential (like closing down those extra social media accounts that aren’t performing).
As for the things you hate doing but are necessary, delegate them to an assistant or specialized professional sooner than you think you can.
They’ll do a better job anyway, and you’ll start enjoying your work a lot more.
#3. Scale Back On Projects
Closely aligned with strategy #2 is recognizing the pressure we put on ourselves to do everything at once.
Much of this is self-imposed. As entrepreneurs, we naturally lean towards being high achievers and workaholics.
But tap into that time-freedom motivation that called you in the first place by appreciating the liberty you have to space out projects to create a more comfortable schedule for yourself.
(Especially if you’re an online entrepreneur and can scale up or down as needed–as opposed to certain fixed demands of running a brick-and-mortar business.)
#4. Consider passive income streams.
I think every business owner should have a passive income stream, meaning that you create a product that can be scaled up for sales without scaling up on time and effort. (A book, course, affiliate links, etc.)
If you’re not sure where to get started with passive income, you may want to start following experts like Pat Flynn and David Siteman Garland.
#5. Keep the end goal in mind.
While we don’t want to perpetually live for tomorrow and put off joyful living today, there is still truth to the idea that good things take hard work.
That’s why most people end up settling for whatever life gives them instead of pursuing their dreams.
Once a quarter, I review my vision board and re-write my vision statement of what I want my life to look like.
My business plays a big role in that vision, so holding my desires close helps motivate me when the stress and frustration of building a business looms large.
#6. Practice self-care and create boundaries along the way.
Lama Surya Das, while not exactly a business coach, has some excellent advise for those of us who tend to focus too much on the future:
“If you’re not here now, you’ll never be there then.”
–Lama Surya Das
If you’re not regularly practicing self-care and creating pockets of time where you turn work off, what makes you think you’ll have different habits once your business gets bigger?
Even if in small increments, take time on a consistent basis to care for your body and spirit–not to mention the relationships that are important to you.
This type of self-care will not only help you practice for the life you want, but may well be the very practice that helps keep you going as long as it takes to achieve your goals.
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On the edge of overwhelm? Save your sanity by taking the free 7-day Mindset Mantra Challenge.
