A Happy Life is a Balanced Life

MakingBank S3E20 with Chris Record

Let’s talk about the vicious cycle. We want freedom to do what we want. We create a business. We sacrifice the things we want in life to make more money and improve the business. Before we know it, we’re trading so much time for money that we never get the chance to enjoy what we’ve created. We end up depleted and often depressed.

What is the point of making money, if we don’t have time to enjoy it? Often it can feel like we’re waiting for life to start. We think, “Once I get this big contract, I’ll be able to enjoy what I’ve worked towards.” But, as the saying goes, “work begets work.” There is always another level to attain, another client to book, another big step to take. The reality is our life is already happening—we are just missing it.

Have you stopped to ask, is this really, truly the life that I want? Am I living a life of abundance, or slogging through day-to-day in hopes that it will eventually get better? Unfortunately, it won’t unless you do something about it.

This week, Chris encouraged us to “find something that you can get behind and leave a dent in the universe so that when we pass on, there’s something left of our legacy that lives on.” It sounds amazing. Of course we want to be passionate about what we do, of course we want to leave a lasting legacy, but our focus can get so narrow that we can’t necessarily fathom the reach we could have.

One practical way to broaden your view and free up some time and much needed brain space is building a team you can trust—delegating and relinquishing control. It’s hard. No one can do what you do, as well as you do it, because you created it, but they can play a close second. By delegating work to a team you trust, you amplify your ability to focus on the bigger picture in your business, as well as allow yourself the time to actually experience and engage in your life outside of work.

Couple that dynamite team you’ve built with automating every possible aspect that can be automated in your business, and you’ve freed up hours of valuable time. Give yourself the freedom to enjoy the life you worked hard to create. Inject some hard earned balance, and expand the scope of what your life can be. For Chris, he realized he had to “be selfish, in order to be selfless.” By investing time in himself, he was able to eventually make more money, have more freedom, and give back to others in his community.

Your life is what you choose it to be, even when it feels like it isn’t. Resist the lie that in order to be successful you have to give everything to your job. By taking time off, investing in relationships, fitness, non-work related hobbies, you give your brain time to reset and refocus. Believe it or not, your productivity will go up. 

For more practical steps to move you towards becoming a Lifepreneur and not just an entrepreneur, check out this week’s action guide.