The myth of “work life balance”

E-Commerce is a HARD business model. And you’re constantly competing to be the top dog in your niche.

Slack off and you fall down the ranks.

Put in the extra work and you climb the ladder.

There’s no secret sauce to success.

But there IS a method to the madness when it comes to balancing the rest of your life with your business. At least, in my own experience.

I’ve done it all.

I’ve worked the 80+ hour weeks in the trenches.

I’ve also taken it easy, only putting in 2-3 hours per day into my business

My opinion?

There’s no right or wrong way to do it. Only tradeoffs.

I like to compartmentalize my life into seasons.

Sometimes I’ll be in a grind season. Limited fun, distractions, and frivolous spending. I’ll work the 12 hour days and feel good about myself for doing so. Will I miss time with my kids? Yes. Will I miss that new movie everyone’s talking about? Yes. Will I care? Not really.

Other times I’ll be in a chill season where other areas of my life take priority over my income and business.

For example, I’ve been learning the electric guitar over the past few months. I started a “chill season” from May 27th through September 2nd.

During periods like these, I understand that I won’t be able to compete with others in the same way. But I usually have systems in place to prevent me from losing too much ground.

Your chill season could be taking a 2-3 month vacation in Thaliland or Bali.

Do you stop working completely? No. You still have to maintain it to some degree.

But you’re not grinding away chasing a massive goal, either.

It’s a conscious decision. 

If you don’t cut yourself some slack here and there, you’ll likely get burnt out.

But you also can’t mess around for too long. Otherwise you fall behind.

Anyway,

The most important thing to consider is the season itself. It must be an ACTIVE decision. Are you in a chill season, or a grind season? Are your expectations realistic or unrealistic depending on the season you’re in?

Nuff said,

Till next time.