Recently, at one of my mastermind groups, someone asked our guest speaker, Tony Robbins, how he managed a work, life balance. You want to know how he answered?
He laughed.
Ask any super successful, driven professional how they balance their work life and their personal life and you’ll get the same laugh. Or, maybe you’ll get an eye roll or some other dismissive answer because the reality is:
If you’re obsessed with being successful, with creating something bigger, with making a real difference in this world, there’s only one answer- There is no “normal” balance of work and life.
You work. All the time. And you find ways to integrate your life into your business lifestyle if it’s important to you.
One of the main keys to being successful is having clarity. If you’re wondering whether you’re one of these success-driven people, start by asking yourself these questions:
- Where did you start?
- What do you want to achieve?
- Are you obsessed with what you want?
- Are you willing, and motivated, to do whatever it takes to get there?
If you’re really obsessed with what you want, it truly becomes about how to make life work when you prioritize business. Yes, it’s much easier for someone like Tony Robbins to bring his kids along with him when he works because he has access to private planes, the ability to homeschool his kids, and pay for a support network to help when he can’t. Now you, you have the ability to make life work for you, too. You just have to get clear about your priorities and take it from there.
If you work all the time, you HAVE to integrate the rest of your life.
Since you’re still reading, I think it’s safe to say you, like me, spend all of your time thinking about your work and how to make it better. It’s true that today I can afford to hire people to help me with my four dogs, but it wasn’t always that way. What I knew how to do was find a support network that had the same goals as me.
My first tip for how to integrate life with work is to talk to the people in your life honestly about your schedule. If there’s a partner or spouse, be clear about your goals and make sure they understand how those goals might impact their life. In my case, my fiancé shares my vision and goals, and she’s on board with my schedule. We find ways to make it work, but it started with an honest conversation about my lifestyle and how she would fit into that. Including her in those discussions allowed her to feel good about the choices we’re making together.
Maybe there isn’t a significant other, but most of us have people in our lives that can help when we’re focused on building an empire and may not have time to take care of everything else. Even if there aren’t people like that in your life, think about what kind of support you need.
I admit that there have been times I paid an assistant more than what I was making because it was important to make sure I had the uninterrupted time I needed to accomplish my task list. Equally important ,was having what I needed when I got home so I wasn’t deprived just because of my schedule.
In summary, first clarify your priorities so you can determine where you need to focus your time and where you need others to help fill in the gaps. Second, talk to those people in your life to make sure everyone’s on the page so you can make the best of the available time you have. Finally, if you’re able, delegate responsibilities and find someone to help do the things that make life comfortable, since you may not have the time to do yourself.
Listen to the full episode our new podcast, Chris Collins Unleashed, on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, or YouTube.
Think I’m onto something? Disagree entirely? Reach out to me on Twitter at @bulldogcollins. I’d love to know what you think.
