Get Off the Hamster Wheel by Taking Back Your Time: Step 3 Scheduling (L)ove | L.I.F.E.
Getting Your Time Back
A few years ago, my coach, Chad Hyams, shared with me a scheduling strategy that has proven successful for myself and other top performing business owners that builds upon the last two strategies I’ve shared to get business owners off the hamster wheel. The acronym is L.I.F.E. which stands for love, improvement, fitness and economic. I will dive into each of these areas over the next week, and today, this post will focus on ‘Love’.
After scheduling your bedtime, wake up time and the rocks, next you will schedule ‘Love’. Love represents the relationships most important to you. They can be your spouse, your family, children, extended family, friends, etc. Why schedule ‘Love’ next?
Have you ever seen a person that by worldly standards, money and power and status, is lonely? They worked hard, put in extreme effort, yet they did it all at the expense of everyone around them. What happened? Where did the time go? I really regret not staying in touch with that person? I hear this all the time from entrepreneurs that have not been intentional with scheduling their time with others. They’ve made great money, yet their relationships are thin.
What does scheduling “Love’ do for you as a business owner?
I believe we are called to love one another.
Scheduling time with those most important will enrich your life.
Being an entrepreneur, those you love will be your greatest asset in terms of support, and not necessarily financially, those you can go to for support. If you don’t spend time with these people, that will go away.
When you schedule time for these important relationships, you will reduce your chances of double booking or overlooking that which is most important to others. You can be the friend someone counts on. You can be a supportive spouse. You can be the mother or father at your children’s events.
Have I always been perfect with this? No. Do I struggle with this from time to time? Yes. Am I much better in this area of my life when I get intentional about scheduling it on my calendar? Absolutely. One of the biggest challenges I see with entrepreneurs is that the work can become a passion and almost an obsession, and if time is not purposely set aside to foster and nurture important relationships, the passion/obsession can become destructive.
Do you want to get off the hamster wheel? Make sure you are building ‘Love’ into your schedule. Did something here resonate with you? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
The pictures above was my son getting confirmed at church this weekend along with my daughter, wife and pastors of the church. They are the ‘Love’ in my daily schedule because they are the most important.
If you're keeping up with my "Getting Your Time Back" posts, I've now covered:
- Bedtime and Wake Up Time
- The Rocks
- Love
Onward and Upward…
