⚖️ Keep Healthy Relationships
“If only I were a computer, you’d pay attention to me!”
These are the words no hard-working husband wants to hear. But that’s exactly what Gail said to her husband, Michael Hyatt, years ago when he was in full “hustle” mode to build his online platform.
Our spouses may never have said these exact words, but you may have been in that same place before.
We intensely focus on our vision for the future, but our families may feel ignored and disconnected.
Your message is important, but it will lose its influence if your key relationships become casualties along the way.
You can nurture healthy relationships with the important people in your life and build a successful online platform—if you follow a few key guidelines.
Pursue A Platform You’re Passionate About
When your platform message inspires you, your positive energy will be contagious, making it easy for your relationships to rally behind your efforts.
Without that passionate conviction inside of you, you’re likely to burn out and your platform will feel like drudgery—which is uninspiring to you and everyone around you.
Draw A Line in The Sand
Be intentional about where work ends and personal life begins.
You can accomplish this with a physical boundary, strategy, or routine that indicates the end of work time.
For example, Michael Hyatt’s office has lights that are programmed to turn off at 6PM, so he makes sure his workday is done by the time the lights go off.
I typically work from a co-working space. Leaving there physically helps me mentally shift from work time to relationship time, and reduces the temptation to open my laptop and start working again. Bonus—I’m able to relax better, too.
Celebrate Wins with People You Love
If you’re not careful, the only time your loved ones will hear about your platform is when you’re frustrated.
Protect your enthusiasm, and theirs, by regularly pausing to celebrate how far you’ve come.
Did you just get your first 100 email subscribers? Or 1,000? Excellent! Celebrate every win with your loved ones and they’ll cheer you on.
Take Time Off
Being an entrepreneur is exciting! But it also comes with its fair share of unrealistic assumptions.
For example, entrepreneurs often believe they don’t need a vacation until they hit it big. This mindset will set you up for burnout.
Sometimes, the absolute best thing you can do for your platform, and your key relationships, is to take time off. Then you can come back refreshed and ready to enthusiastically re-engage.
Remember to Outsource
As you start generating revenue with your platform, evaluate which activities only you can provide top value to, and the activities better served by someone else.
Once you take those other areas off your plate by outsourcing, you’ll recapture energy and focus to apply to the key activities that move your platform forward.
This principle works at home, too.
For example, we found a local service that could thoroughly clean our house once a month for less than $100! It was an easy decision that gave my wife and me more time to focus on each other, rather than chores.
Your Next Steps
You can build a successful online platform while protecting important relationships in your life, but only if you’re diligent about applying these types of guidelines.
Evaluate where things stand in each of the areas identified above, and determine one step or strategy that will move you closer to the target.
Repeat this process every week for the next 90 days and I’ll bet you’ll find your overall effectiveness, focus, and sense of fulfillment tangibly increased in both your business and personal life.
