There is no such thing as work-life balance

30 rules for building a business without losing your soul

Apparently there’s no such thing as work-life balance. There’s just life. Some tolerate their jobs and live for the weekend (or to pay the bills). Others want to change the rules and claim the whole day as their own pursuing their own passion. Some of this last group call themselves entrepreneurs. Do they manage to get the right balance?

I hear far too many stories of startup founders living off of ramen noodles (or spaghetti hoops if you’re from the UK) and sleeping on mattresses in their offices. Call me naive but I don’t call that much of a life. Yes, they’re passionate and driven but apparently devoid of any kind of life outside of their startup.

“But are there some things that are just not worth sacrificing?”

I accept that building a business is hard. It takes dedication, hard work and sacrifice. But are there some things that are just not worth sacrificing? You may be on a mission to change the world, but should that also mean losing part of yourself in the process? What if we end up doing bad by doing good? If our friends, family and mental health suffer in the process is it still worth doing? Some of you may say “hell yeah!”. If you’re one of those people stop reading now!

“a valuable sense of perspective to my day”

While I’ve been writing this blog post I’ve stopped to do the nightly ritual to get my son to bed (brush his teeth; listen to him read; kiss him goodnight). This is important to me and adds a valuable sense of perspective to my day. I could have easily not done this and got on with finishing off this post (along with the hundred other things on my to do list). But I chose not to. Don’t think I’m not driven or ambitious; I’m just clear as to what is important to me. I’ll only get one chance to experience my young kids growing up. I’m sure I’ll get another chance to work hard to build my business.

“100% commitment to your business does not have to mean 100% of your life”

I firmly believe you need to be passionate about your startup and that it needs 100% commitment. But 100% commitment to your business does not have to mean 100% of your life. Your work is important, it puts food on the table but it is only one part of your life. There are other parts that are even more important, especially if you want to sustain any kind of momentum in your work life.

If you’re like me you don’t think twice about working well into your old age. And given the current state of the world’s financial system we probably all will. However, I think this way because I want my work to compliment my life. That means my work is part of my life and therefore something I should believe in and a be passionate about. But if I still want to be in any state to work well into my 80s then I’ve got make sure I look after all parts of my life now.

Sure there will be times when I’ll miss my daughter’s ballet recital (the wife isn’t too sure about that one) or I’ll find myself working well into the early hours. But the trick is to recognise that these are exceptions and not the norm. Our lives are always in a state of dynamic equilibrium and we’re never truly in exact balance. Sometimes we’ll work too much and sometimes we’ll be spending too much time enjoying ourselves. However, if we make sure we pay attention to all parts of our lives, we’ll never stray too far from the middle ground.

“remember that we deal and work with human beings”

As well as recognising this in ourselves, we also need to recognise this in others, be they colleagues or employees. We need to remember that we deal and work with human beings, not assets that need their outputs maximised. Some of us want to build successful lives as well as successful businesses. If you’re like me and want to be a Happy Entrepreneur then here are 30 tenets to live by:

1. Have a vision and be clear about what you want to achieve
2. Have strong opinions that are weakly held
3. Remember that life isn’t a dress rehearsal
4. Know your purpose
5. Change what you can. Accept what you can’t
6. Let your passion shine through
7. Live your values
8. Be honest with yourself
9. Act with integrity
10. Become a story teller
11. Stay focused
12. Be disciplined
13. Learn to say no
14. Be effective not just efficient
15. Avoid analysis paralysis
16. If in doubt, just do it
17. Accept your failures and celebrate your successes
18. Avoid regrets
19. Don’t be driven by your ego
20. Always thirst for learning
21. Listen before you speak
22. Always sleep on big decisions
23. Accept the advice of others but learn to trust your gut
24. Practice mindfulness and live in the present
25. Enjoy the journey. Don’t obsess over the destination
26. Make time for friends and family
27. Make time for play
28. Make time for your health
29. What YOU achieve is far more important than what others have
30. Give more than you get but earn more than you spend

Have you considered becoming an entrepreneur? Do you think you’ve got an idea worth building into a business. I can’t promise you that you’ll discover the magical formula for finding work-life balance but be a part of our Happy Startup Home School and you’ll join 99 other entrepreneurs on the first steps to building businesses with real purpose.