How entrepreneurs can create balance in business and life

Courtesy Photo Sonia Cook-Broen, TechMargin

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By Sonia Cook-Broen, TechMargin

As an entrepreneur, you have ambition, ideas, passion and limited time for a to-do list that never diminishes. If your superpower is making time stand still, the elusive balance between duty and life is attainable. Otherwise, you are human, and reading another article about why you need balance will likely tip you over the edge. I don't believe in buzzwords, either.

A telltale sign of burnout is apathy for work that used to excite you. The work has not changed, but you have likely failed to rest, and now the work makes you bitter and resentful or some other form of toxic thinking; pick your flavor. Whether working for a W-2 or building an online business, burnout will deplete your passion for the work you once loved.

The key is prevention; if you are already in burnout, seek help from a professional or coach. Therapy, a mastermind group, and one-on-one coaching brought me clarity.

My coach, Runa, taught me "The Four Pillars of Vitality" essential to balance: True Play, True Rest, True Work, and True Study. This is a framework for self-assessment and understanding where balance isn't showing up in your life and rebuilding in a way that works for you specifically. We create balance by learning what motivates us and what recharges us.

Why did you become an entrepreneur in the first place? Likely, a desire for more agency in your life and work factored into your decision to blaze your own trail. Over time, the deadlines and meetings pile on, and we become controlled by externalities. Unable to gain perspective on what we actually want and need, our normal shifts to a schedule full of commitments we don't want to commit to.

Taking back control of your calendar is step one. Setting boundaries around scheduling will not limit access to new clients and business opportunities. You will set an example to your clients and colleagues; healthy people lead healthy businesses.

Setting boundaries around your schedule creates space for the first of the pillars, True Play. Dance, playing games with friends, and singing are examples of play; what counts as play will look different for each of us. True Play is joyful, expansive and improves your outlook; make time for it in your schedule, and joy will spill over into your work and life.

Next, we need to talk about True Rest. We are not seesaws. Therefore, balance is dimensional and not simply about the number of hours awake vs. hours asleep. While sleep is essential, True Rest happens when you engage in activities that recharge your batteries, leaving you feeling balanced. Going for a walk with my dog and listening to an inspiring podcast (anything by Brené Brown or Tim Ferriss) is a favorite activity I easily incorporate into my day. I always feel more ready to work after taking time outside in nature. Like play, rest will look different for each of us. Resting in this manner should diminish your stress, leaving your body and mind energized and clear.

Ikigai, or True Work, is not necessarily what we do for a living. Ikigai is a Japanese concept representing work that sits at the center of four quadrants; work we love, work we are good at, work that the world needs, and work that can be monetized.

True Work might not be your job or business, but if you are an entrepreneur, your work likely aligns with two or three of the components of Ikigai. Whatever your vocation, your work will be enriched by balancing the Four Pillars of Vitality. Exhaustion will impact the work you love if you neglect balance.

A clue to discovering our True Work, True Study fascinates us and engages us to the extent that the external world becomes muted. True Study strengthens our assimilative qualities. Integration of True Study with True Work is a virtuous cycle, sparking innovative solutions through the assimilation of knowledge and practice. True balance brings self-discovery, compassion, joy, and energy. Be gentle with yourself and enjoy the journey.

About the author

Sonia Cook-Broen is founder of the TechMargin. Leveraging expertise at the intersection of software and the arts, Sonia builds processes and tools that empower professional creatives and innovators to thrive in business. Learn more about Sonia and her firm by subscribing to her newsletter and social media.

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