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I stared wide-eyed at my laptop display screen, frozen with disbelief. $306,055.05. That was the entire income quantity I noticed on the high of my revenue and loss assertion on the finish of 2021.
Surely, it was the most important monetary 12 months my freelance writing enterprise had ever had—each in complete income and in web revenue (which was proper round $175,000 earlier than taxes and retirement financial savings).
After a fast second to pat myself on the again, I discovered myself going through the query that plagues each enterprise proprietor: So…what’s subsequent?
I knew what my plan was for the following few months: A 3-month maternity go away to welcome my second son (in order that high-earning 12 months positively got here in helpful to self-fund my very own go away).
However what about after that? Ought to I begin providing new companies? Ought to I proceed constructing a group of subcontractors to assist with the work? Ought to I spin this into my very own full-fledged content material company?
Conventional knowledge and hustle-obsessed posts on LinkedIn would nudge me within the course of chasing extra. Extra purchasers. Extra credibility. Extra tasks. More cash.
And but, I’m doing the precise reverse. After my highest-earning 12 months ever, I’m deliberately scaling again.
Blame it on burnout, the pandemic, or changing into a mother (or all the above), however I’m craving extra time and fewer stress. That nagging want for higher steadiness began a few 12 months in the past, once I by accident skipped finishing a household artwork mission for my son’s daycare. It remained forgotten on our kitchen counter as a result of I used to be too swamped with work to take a seat down with him. I made a decision then and there to chop Fridays out of my workweeks.
That change helped me really feel like my schedule was extra aligned with my priorities. However, after including one other kiddo into the combo, I nonetheless felt strapped for time—even with my three-day weekend. So, I’ve taken issues a step additional. I’m saying goodbye to the lengthy hours and dealing weekends that constructed my enterprise and solely working Monday by way of Wednesday for the foreseeable future.
In some methods, it was a simple resolution. It felt like the proper strategy to get one of the best of each worlds. In different methods, it was a change I wrestled with, particularly when a lot of my identification is wrapped up in what I do for a dwelling. Stepping again to part-time felt like admitting that I had failed miserably at “having it all.”
However, regardless of the challenges, the choice has taught me fairly a number of useful classes about progress, priorities, and that coveted work-life steadiness everyone is making an attempt so arduous to realize.
Lesson #1: steadiness takes fixed dedication
It usually looks like work-life steadiness is a puzzle to be put collectively. A code to be cracked. As if it’s one thing that you determine as soon as, and after that, you possibly can reap the rewards of a life that’s completely proportional.
That’s not the case for me. I’ve set a tough boundary of working solely three days per week, however my duties don’t magically match within that container. Holding that line requires fixed alternative, dedication, and even sacrifice.
That’s the flip facet of work-life steadiness that will get far much less consideration. Many individuals discuss what they’ve gained (and naturally, there’s loads of that), however it’s uncommon that they discuss what they’ve misplaced.
After I first scaled again my workweek, it meant parting methods with a retainer shopper I had labored with for over six years. That shopper made up about 20% of my revenue, however the nature of the work didn’t match with my lowered working hours. I’d like to say that ending that association felt like a symbolic rebirth of my enterprise and a reset of my priorities, however the brutal reality is that it felt…nicely, terrifying.
I summoned my braveness and did it anyway. That was the beginning of a sequence of powerful (however essential) selections to make my supreme schedule a actuality. Since then, I’ve turned down purchasers that have been an amazing match for me. Initiatives I used to be enthusiastic about. Paychecks that will’ve been significant. There are talking alternatives I can’t settle for, initiatives I can’t participate in, and concepts I can’t pursue—all as a result of they merely don’t match inside the limitations I’ve set.
Is it price it? Completely. I do know that I’ve received greater than I’ve misplaced. I’ve extra time, extra vitality, and extra persistence (which was admittedly in brief provide once I felt always burdened by an unreasonable workload). However the relentless trade-offs have proven me that work-life steadiness isn’t truly a end line to be crossed—it’s the marathon itself.
Lesson #2: I’m OK with a ‘middle ground’ enterprise
A lot enterprise recommendation feels so… nicely, excessive.
You hear from individuals who boast about their unshakeable dedication to their corporations and careers. They’re working 80-hour weeks and sleeping on their workplace ground, all within the hopes that their financial institution statements will sometime seem like lottery winnings.
And you then hear from the individuals on the opposite facet of the spectrum. They’d some form of awakening, left high-powered careers, and now reside from a transformed Sprinter van as they bounce between nationwide parks.
And right here I’m, someplace within the center. The enterprise (and revenue) I’ve labored so arduous to construct remains to be essential to me, however it’s not going to eat all of my time, vitality, and a spotlight. That doesn’t imply I’ve a need to go away all of it behind both.
I’d like to say that I’m completely content material hanging out between these two extremes, however it’s truly fairly counterintuitive and evokes a hefty quantity of restlessness for me.
To fight these anxious and itchy emotions, I set a objective: I need to earn someplace between $8,000 and $10,000 every month. Now, I exploit a spreadsheet to maintain monitor of all the tasks I e book for every month and, once I’ve reached my revenue objective, I cease accepting work. It’s a easy strategy that helps me keep away from overextending myself on account of the, “Well…I might need the money…” lure.
I’ve discovered solidarity with many different enterprise house owners who’re occupying my similar center floor. And I’ve come to embrace that, regardless of what clickbait would have us imagine, it’s completely potential (and greater than okay!) to run a reasonably profitable enterprise—with out it monopolizing my complete life.
Lesson #3: individuals aren’t paying a lot consideration to my schedule
This thought was on repeat inside my head as I debated slicing again my workweek: However what if any person—gasp!—emails me once I’m not there?
It feels so ridiculous to jot down out, however I can’t blame myself for feeling that method.
The fixed connectedness of our world has usually impressed a way of allegiance to my inbox. Through the years, I’ve felt the must be readily accessible and capable of instantly soar on no matter red-alert-three-alarm-this-is-not-a-test emergency that may, doubtlessly, perhaps land on my desk (in eight years, I’ve but to expertise an actual “blog post emergency,” by the best way).
I tossed and turned over how I’d nonetheless be capable to serve my purchasers if I used to be solely signed on three days every week. Would they resent me? Would they go for any person else who could possibly be reached in any respect hours?
Right here’s what truly occurred: I lower my workweek again to 3 days and no one even seen.
Yep. You learn that proper. I explicitly instructed a number of purchasers about my new schedule after we wanted to arrange conferences. However, not a single soul has picked up on my adjusted workweek on their very own. Or in the event that they did? They definitely didn’t care sufficient to say one thing.
I match my workload inside my restrictions and reply to messages once I’m moderately capable of, and to this point, we’re all alive to inform the story.
In relation to that sense of urgency most of us really feel saddled with, it’s simple to level the finger at different individuals’s calls for and expectations. However, it’s price wanting within the mirror. In my case, plenty of the stress was self-imposed.
Lesson #4: I can’t at all times measure success by the numbers
As a enterprise proprietor, “success” has at all times felt powerful to wrap my arms round. In any case, there aren’t any outlined profession paths, promotions, efficiency evaluations, and lofty firm targets handed down from on excessive.
That implies that numbers have usually been the indicator I’ve used to assessment how the enterprise is doing. Is income forward of what it was final month? Final quarter? Final 12 months? I’m heading in the right direction. If not? I’d ship pitches, pursue new work, and pack my schedule and workload to the brim.
I discovered to like the quantifiable—and it’s that black-and-white perspective that will have me imagine that 2021 was my most “successful” 12 months in enterprise.
And sure, it was my highest-earning 12 months, however wanting again, it wasn’t my most profitable. Actually, I really feel way more “successful” this 12 months.
I’m being extra selective than I’ve ever been about what purchasers and tasks I tackle. I’m considering strategically concerning the subsequent steps in my enterprise and ensuring they’re aligned with my priorities. I’m taking time for issues I get pleasure from that don’t have a paycheck connected to them. My children and I potted some flowers and are caring for them. We take weekly journeys to the library or playground. I’m making an attempt out new recipes and began studying once more.
Will I earn as a lot as I did final 12 months? Nope. In all probability not even shut.
However on the finish of the day, it’s all the opposite stuff that feels far more like “success”—even when the quantity on my revenue and loss assertion is smaller.
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