Last weekend I took a break. Like a proper break. Away. Into the countryside. Away from my work! Away from my passion!
*insert dramatic music*
And whilst most people would being dying to have a break from work and switch-off, I found myself feeling torn about the whole taking-time-off-thing.
I knew I would definitely have fun over the weekend and really enjoy myself but creating the life I want and working on my dreams and goals and doing the stuff I’m passionate about has such a strong pull.
Don’t be talking to me about work/life balance!
THAT’S what I used to need when I worked for other people. And that’s worked with a capital W. In fact, at the weekends, the word ‘work’ was banned. It could NOT be uttered. I wanted NO reminder of the job that took up Monday-Friday.
THAT’S when I needed a work/life balance. I had to nurture and treasure every minute, (every second!), away from work and trying to pack as much fun as possible into 2 days over the weekend. Or into a week when I was allowed to schedule a holiday.
I had to make sure I did stuff to counter the effect of spending 5 days a week doing work that wasn’t right for me. It took me a while to figure out I actually had a choice and could do my own thing.
I don’t believe there is such a thing as a WORK/LIFE BALANCE when your work and your life and your goals and your passions are IN BALANCE!
That’s a liberating place to be. That’s why I do what I do; I want other people to have that liberation!
Yeah, but, it’s alright for you, Karen
No, it’s not ‘alright’ for me.
There’s nothing I have that you don’t have. If you want it, you can do it.
I’m not saying it’s easy and it’ll be a smooth road, of course not! But when you get rid of excuses and take action, and go WITH your passions with a determination that you CAN’T NOT succeed, you will find a way to create the life you want doing the work you love, come what may.
Every day I get to work on and in my passions. There’s no doubt it can be REALLY hard work, but even then, it doesn’t feel like hard-work in the traditional sense.
And that’s why I do what I do. I want more people to feel that way about their work.
I want more people to become WORKAHOLICS!
Or Passionaholics.
Or Playaholics.
Or createaholics!
If you know a ‘workaholic’ just let them get on with it. In fact, be happy for them that they have found something that they care about so much and that is so much part of them that they live and breath it.
Don’t try and force a work/life balance on them whilst they are busy creating the life they want and working towards their goals and dreams.
Work, passions, ambitions, goals are so intertwined anyway, you’ll be trying to separate the person from who they are. IMPOSSIBLE!
Even if you manage to tear them away from ‘work’, you can bet they will still be thinking of what they are currently working on, the next thing they are going to create and figuring out who they are going to help and how amazing it’s going to be. And scary. And frightening and crazy and what-the-hell-am-I-doing and I’M-SCARED-AND-I’M-GONNA-DO-IT-ANYWAY!
When an entrepreneur is created they are on a mission. They are working on their passions. They want to help as many people as possible with what they have to offer. They are doing something they LOVE and that’s really important to them. That is pretty irresistible and hard to simply ‘take a break’ from.
At any one time a passionaholic is juggling 100 things at a time. There isn’t that switching-off time when the clock hits 5. (Yes, I was a minute-counter and as soon it hit 5pm I was outta there!)
My goals are so freaking big they scare me. In a good way! They demand my attention day and night and my goals won’t happen without my attention. Just as your goals won’t happen without your attention. And action. Don’t forget the ACTION!
So last Friday, the day before I went for my break in the Cotswolds, instead of winding down for the week, I made a really quite spur of the moment decision to launch my first book for Kindle on Amazon!
This has been on my to-do list for ages, but sometimes, more often than not, when you get the impulse to take action on something – do it!
So within a few hours on Friday I’d designed my book cover, figured out how to format my book (it was already written, whew!) for Kindle. I used OpenOffice (free), saved my book as a .doc and uploaded it directly to Kindle Direct Publishing and hit ‘Publish’.
And before I had a chance to announce it, or so much else I really had to pack for the weekend and work out my route and get Bumble, my car, ready for our journey.
If I had hadn’t gone away at the weekend I would have checked on the book, learnt something about Kindle publishing on Amazon (still gotta do that bit!), and would probably have been hitting ‘refresh’ to see if anyone bought a copy! (I hear checking stats becomes a new obsession for Amazon authors).
However, the countryside had other ideas and I was without a signal for most of the time but I did manage to take a peek when I had a few bars on my phone and saw that someone had not only bought my book, but reviewed it too!!
The book is really terrific for upping your mindset game. It’s written clearly, with empowering and often inspiring logical language to lay out the issues and solutions to “master your money mindset” in business. I can tell already that I will be reading and re-reading this book; it’s a literary keeper that will have a permanent home in my Kindle library.
My heart was racing! How EXCITING!
And since then, a few more reviews have popped up!
If you’re pretty successful already, buy this book as a refresher and reminder about what to focus upon. If you are struggling, this book will give you practical, immediately applicable tools and strategies, to uplevel your $ mindset and business.
As this book was easy to read and understand, the crucial concept of mastering money mindset really sunk in! I am so grateful to have found this book 🙂 I feel a lot of my money blockages have a strategy to help me overcome them. I feel really motivated thanks to this entertaining and useful ebook.
Oh! I should probably tell you what the book is! Where are my manners?! Sorry, got carried away.
Here it is.
Ta da!
It’s a super-fast read and packs a punch. I share the best of the money advice I’ve learnt over the years and the exact principles in which I run my business which includes;
- Money mindset
- Ditch the scarcity mentality
- 3 ways to grow your business
- Get confident with your fees
- Stop undercharging
- Charge what you are worth
- The value of time
- How to steal from the rich (legitimately!)
- Good things come to those who wait
- Your position in the market
- How to decide what you should charge
- Do the maths!
- Raising your fees
- How to handle hagglers
- Processes that support your goals
- Dealing with your competitors
Click here to get your copy.
Ramping things up at the end of the week is the new winding down at the end of the week.
Perhaps my next book should be ‘How to live with a passionaholic!’. Stayed tuned 😉
Brilliant! I was contemplating about workaholism the other day, asking myself if I am becoming one and if this will bring any negative consequences. And if it is necessary to be a workaholic to have a successful career… I’ve been a createholic for a while now, but so far it wasn’t my “work”. I can totally relate to your feelings about work/life balance. 🙂
Hi Masa!
It depends on how you define it I guess. If you are following your passions and you are creating a life from your work, then why would that be unhealthy. I think it’s unhealthier to work and not have any passion for it. That’s soul-destroying! That’s unhealthy. That’s negative.
I’ve been a ‘workaholic’ or rather someone following my passions and goals and dreams, which means doing the things I like, for 7 years or so, and I can’t think of anything negative from doing so. Quite the opposite in fact! I wouldn’t have it any other way 🙂 x
Good point! I guess I’m afraid that some relationships may suffer because of it, but I’m sure I’ll be able to take care of it when the problems arise. 🙂
Well, you maintain the relationships that are important to you. Also, talk to the people you care about and who care about you. If you need space to create, then set that time aside just as you do for time with your friends/family etc. It’s not an either/or and nothing need suffer for you to create the life and work you want. 🙂 x