Sue Simpson Coach

Owning your own business can be a balancing act. With clarity and a vision the balancing act can all come together for your greater good.

When my children we little I had an in home business. In time I became a Sales Director and even drove a free car! How did I accomplish this with three young children? Dance lessons, school commitments, doctors appointments, and dinner. Well, I don't cook much. Of course that isn't how I balanced it all. Was I always in balance, no. But most of the time I was and when I was out of balance, I knew it was temporary or that I needed to tweak my schedule.

Seven Steps to Balance...

1. Dress the part ~If I had a meeting with a client in the morning I got all gussied up. Then I'd put my jeans on for the everyday things (i was most comfortable in jeans or shorts). That evening, I'd change again, if needed. This helps to set your frame of mind. When your working your working. When your with family, be with family.

2. Ditch multi-tasking ~And I was a pro at multi-tasking. Soon I found it burned way to much energy. Not only that you can't give 100% of you if you're split in five directions.

3. Schedule, schedule, schedule ~When I found myself wondering why something wasn't getting done, I'd ask myself, "did I schedule time for X"? This includes scheduling time to make a healthy breakfast in the morning. Or time to kick back with the family in the evening.

4. Make family, friends, and especially your health part of your business goals ~too often I watched my team members set goals for their business that didn't include their own well being, time with their family, and friend time. The things that made them who they are. The ones that ground us and keep us centered.

5. Take care of the foundation of your business ~When you own your own business, you are the foundation. Did you know that? Imagine a house built on a weak foundation. Soon it will begin to crumble. Same holds true for you. Build a strong foundation by investing in yourself.

6. Learn to say No. You don't have to do it all. It's okay to say no. You have my permission. When an invitation comes, if it's not a automatic yes, then it's a polite no.

7. Be creative with your time ~My daughter called and said, "hey, sorry for the short notice but next Wednesday the kids both have observation day, my three year old grandson had gymnastics and my seven year old granddaughter, ballet. Of course, I wanted to be at both events.

The Challenges:
The events were over an hour away from my home.
One was a 10:00 am and the other at 4:30 pm.
I was scheduled to work in my home office all afternoon to prep for a workshop I was teaching that Friday.
My daughter lives a half hour from where the events were.
My oldest granddaughter would be in school but the three year old and nine month old would be home.

The Fix:
I went to Jack's gymnastics class and watched with great pride and joy.
I took my daughter and two younger grandchildren out to a simple lunch.
I went to the nearest public library and worked for four hours on my workshop prep.
I met the family at my oldest granddaughters ballet class and watched with pride and joy.
Bonus: My son-in-law took us all out to dinner afterwards.