Considering setting these boundaries right now:
1. While you strive to get your life more balanced, keep this in mind: "Life is about success and not perfection," says Alan Weiss, Ph.D and president of Summit Consulting Group Inc. in East Greenwich, R. I. "If you are a perfectionist, you spend too much time on things that don’t matter."
2. Share the workload by hiring the right individuals, compensate them adequately and praise them often.
3. According to Mills, "If there is another person who is important to you, include them in your priority setting. Set aside a time every six months to talk about how things are going." Without this feedback, small problems can become giant disasters.
Get support, says Mills; it is vital to your business. That's why goals and priorities need to be worked out with those individuals who are important to you. Why? Because then you have their support. "It's hard to get support for your own agenda, but if someone else helped you set the agenda, then it's easy."
You certainly can make changes on your own, but you'll make them much faster and more easily with support. When key people in our lives see the beneficial aspects of change, they will be ready to lend a hand.
In the building and remodeling business, every day can be a stressful day. At those times it's easy to revert to old habits. Don't secret your plans away, tell others. This way you'll be more likely to stay on track.
Involved in more than 100 remodeling companies in his construction career, Bill Medina, CGR and president of Medina Construction in Salina, Kan., offers this counsel: "We didn't go to school to learn the contracting business but learned it from being in the business. Consequently, you make a lot of mistakes. Today there are so many resources to help you do it better."
Remember—you need to live your life not your business. Your work can be a key part of your life but when it takes over, neither you nor your business thrive.
Judith A. Stock is a freelance writer based in Granada Hills, Calif.
To read Part 1 of this series,
click here.
