7 Ways to Stop Your Business From Sucking the Life Out of You

Sharon is an incredibly gifted marketing coach. She is driven by her purpose to help others. She has a heart of gold and always went the extra mile for her clients, trying to make sure they got everything they needed and more, often at her own expense. Sharon became so wrapped up in her business, she spent nearly every evening working late into the night, even missing her children’s bedtime tuck-ins. She rarely took time out for herself. She was in a constant flurry and on edge with her loved ones. Her and her husband were more like ships passing in the night, until one day they crashed into the jagged cliff.

“You’re spending all your time working. You would be better off to go get a job,” Sharon’s husband told her. “We never get to see you, and when you are with us you are making yourself crazy worrying about your next launch or getting your next clients.”

Sharon was crushed. Her work was so important to her. It gave her meaning and a sense of contribution. She loved her clients and helping them to succeed. Only, she, too, was noticing she was more exhausted and less happy than she used to be. Life seemed to be more of a hamster wheel with work being the main focus. “That is exactly why I left my corporate job,” Sharon lamented.

While she was making money with her business, Sharon was unaware of how her desire to serve was at war with her having a truly prosperous business.

As a natural healer, her clients felt better in her presence. Sharon thought she needed to cater to their every need and whim to make sure they were ok. She was running her business like a 24/7 mission, instead of establishing clear business boundaries and creating a solid and sustainable business model that supported her. When she stopped to consider how many hours she was working and how much she was actually making, it was shocking. Something had to change.

When we worked together one of the first things we did was to establish clear business boundaries. Sharon stopped sacrificing herself for the sake of her clients. She began to take better care of herself. The quality of her work improved and became easier. Her husband and family enjoy her company and she became much happier in her business and relationships as a result. She even attracted clients at a higher rate, without all the extra effort.

Here are some ways you can begin to create clearer business boundaries to support you in having a life and a business that feeds you, too:

1. Create a beginning and ending time to your work day. When the end of the day is done, shut down your computer, close the door and leave your work behind.

2. Make designated time in your schedule for breaks and lunches so you stop and nourish yourself and your energy throughout the day.

3. Leverage your time. Design programs and client support in a way that ensures outcomes, yet maximizes your time. Think about the things you repeat to your clients and how they may be delivered in a training module or group format. Take into consideration client activities that require more of your personal time and price them accordingly.

4. Establish clearly defined coaching or business guidelines and agreements and follow them.

5. Designate your vacation and time off on your calendar first at the beginning of the year before you fill in the rest of the activities.

6. Allot 2 specific times of the day to check phone and email messages AFTER your top revenue producing activity has been completed.

7. Communicate with friends and family your work hours and ask them to call you after your work day is complete, unless it is an emergency.

When you let go of the crazy expectations you place on yourself, the pressure, stress and taking too much responsibility for your clients dissipates, too. Remember the transformation lives within your client, not within you. It is important for you to be clear what your role and responsibilities are and fulfill them. Setting good business boundaries helps you to clearly define this. They also help you patch up energy leaks where you may be overdoing it so you stop the drain on your energy and can maintain passion for your work.

Boundaries are a form of self-love. They automatically send a message of self-respect to your subconscious mind and train your clients, friends and family members to respect and honor you and your needs, too.