Why did you start your business?

Chances are that you were tired of being boxed in by your corporate job, or you wanted to travel more, have more time for yourself or your family, or just remove the cap on your income.

Are you experiencing more of these things – or less? The entrepreneurs I talk to every day are frustrated because it seems like they have LESS spare time now than they did before they became business owners.

There are 3 key principles that you MUST embrace if you are to experience TRUE freedom from your business:

1. Be clear on what you want to create, and calibrate your daily activities and results to that end.

You truly do have creative freedom in deciding what you will create in your business. So define it! What do you want your business to look like: by year’s end? by 2012? by 2020? Dream big!

Then, as you set your daily priorities and transition from one task to the next – as well as review your results at regular intervals – you will see definite progress toward your desired outcome. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself in the trap of doing a lot – but feeling like your dreams get further and further away.

2. Be sure technology serves you, not the other way around!

Have you ever tracked how much time you spend on email? It can consume you if you let it!

Successful entrepreneurs set specific times to handle their correspondence – whether snail mail, email or phone – and focus on revenue-generating activities the majority of the time.

If you spend too much time on email, ask yourself “why” do I do that? Is it a reflection of my insecurity, fear I will miss something, or just being a bit of a “control freak”? Left unresolved, these deeper issues can put you on an auto-pilot mode that keeps you from accomplishing your life’s work.

3. Establish clear boundaries between work and play – including time to replenish your creative stores!

Remember that ideal life you wanted when you started out? Chances are it didn’t involve working weekends or evenings, giving up vacations, or missing your kids’ school plays or camp, did it?

Yet it is easy to fall into the trap of thinking you are “indispensible” – that if you just get that one more client, that one new project, THEN you will take time off.

But it doesn’t work that way. You need to plan your work around your life, not the other way around. I first learned this from authors and speakers Ken and Marjorie Blanchard, who plan their annual calendar – and a full one it is – around their leisure time, travel and time with each other. The work commitments get scheduled around that.

If you don’t take care of yourself, no one else will – especially as an entrepreneur. Take a spa day every week or two, plan your vacations for the rest of 2010 now so you make sure to take them. This will renew you in ways no amount of work can – so you can be prepared for the new directions your work is taking you.

Want to learn more about how your beliefs and mental outlook affect your business? Join our Summer Training Series today.

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