Creating a personal plan for yourself has never been more important. We are surrounded by news about how our generation and the next is “burning out” and is experiencing mental health issues. I was personally fortunate to come across an American author by the name of Donald Miller who wrote a book that has changed how I live my life. Check out his book here:
Consider the points below:
1. What would you want family and friends to say about the life you lived and how you lived it?
Here is where you envision what you want to have achieved personally at the end of your life. This will help you break down the steps you need to take to get there. This is basically reverse engineering your vision of success. Have 12 month, 5 year and 10 year goals that if achieved will bring you closer to the realisation of your personal vision.
2. Hire help
As a business owner, you need to decide if you want to work “in” your business or “on” your business. There is not right or wrong answer, but only the one that speaks to you and your personal vision for your life. Either way, the majority of business owners do not want to work themselves to a super, but rather want to have freedom to do what they want to do, when and how they want to do it. This means that you may at some point need to get help, i.e. hire employees or enter into partnerships to enable you to have that freedom you desired from the start.
3. Learn to train well and delegate
When you start your business, you’re usually the only person in your business. You get used to “doing-it-all” and you have a certain way in which you “do-it-all”. Once you hire help, it is almost ridiculous if you do not train your employees well and then delegate tasks to them that are taking up your time. This of course goes hand in hand with hiring the right people in the first place, but if done properly, it can make a world of difference to you personally and to the growth of your business.
Start at home, try to delegate tasks to your family members and learn how you can release yourself from the pressure of micromanagement. Once you’ve learnt a bit about yourself in the process, apply the same to your business. Your employees will feel as if they are making a contribution and you will have some free time to work on your personal vision.
4. Schedule “me” time
Just as much as you diarise an important meeting with a client, making an appointment with yourself is just as critical. You don’t need to decide right now what you will do in that meeting with yourself, but “booking” that appointment with yourself in your diary/calendar is the first step. The most important part is sticking to it. If anyone asks for your availability and the only time you have in that day, is that meeting with yourself, do not offer that time slot. Honour your appointments with yourself seriously and you will thank yourself for it one day.
Schedule in dates that are important to you and your family, like birthdays, anniversaries, children’s sports matches, religious events, etc. Once you’ve scheduled them, stick to those appointments as you would to a client meeting.
5. Make a personal commitment to improving your health
When was the last time you took a walk or went for a run? If you were active in your younger years, do you remember how good it felt to break a good sweat in a workout? Not to mention how awesome you felt when your clothes fit you well!
As a business owner, you need the physical, mental and psychological stamina to keep at your business. Living an active and healthy lifestyle teaches helps you with discipline that overflows into other areas of your life.
Living actively can mean anything from weight training in a gym to trail running or marathons. Do the activity that makes you happy but also allows you to push yourself and your body. Remember the old saying…”if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it”.
6. Maintain and build new relationships
Human beings are meant to interact with other human beings. Make time to meet with your friends and family and find ways to make new friends. You never know when a business relationship may come out of a friendship! Remember, that people do business with people. When you build a community around yourself, you don’t feel alone or discouraged. There is always someone to check up on you and cheer you on.
7. Find a way to give back and serve
There is a sense of fulfilment that one gets from being able to serve others that are less fortunate than us. Whether you get more involved at church or find a community group in which to serve, you will get more out of it, than you put in. Serving will also allow you to identify needs in your community that you may or may not be able to meet through your business.
8. Get serious about your personal finances
You do not take your business finances lightly, then why so with your personal finances? The business will not exist without you and your business must remunerate you not just adequately, but generously. I understand that this may not happen as you start out, but get into the habit of paying yourself a salary, even if it is a small token amount. Your business must get used to having you as an overhead and plans must be put in place to pay salaries every month, including yours.
You also cover most of the major risks in your business, stop and think if you have done so with your personal life. Insurance cover and savings are a foundation for growing, maintaining and protecting wealth. Take it seriously because no one is going to do it for you. Do not let you loved ones be left to pick up the pieces when you’re no longer. Find a good financial planner, accountant (yes, you can ask your business accountant for advice) and lawyer to set things in place and help you plan and remain stress free about your finances.
Your personal life is your most important business–manage it wisely. The late Carnegie Mellon professor Randy Pausch put it best: “It is not about achieving your dreams,” he said in The Last Lecture, “but living your life.”
Contact us should you need help with your personal taxes and we can also refer you to reputable financial planners and lawyers.
