The Business of You

By Pat Rigsby

We pour ourselves into our businesses.

We invest long hours, all the passion and energy we have to give…and often our life savings – all in the hope of launching a business that will be a success.

We forego the security that comes with a traditional job.

The ‘normal’ schedule, the 401K, the paid vacations and the ability to ‘turn it off’ the moment we walk out the door.

We give all of that up in the hope of building something of our own – something that reflects who we are and the stamp we want to make on the world.

But there’s a problem.

We often lose ourselves in the business.

Instead of it becoming a reflection of us, our goals and our values…

…we become a reflection of it.

It’s schedule, it’s clients and it’s needs.

They become your focus and your identity…

…Unless you give appropriate attention to the ‘business of you.’

Unless you take care of you and your family with the same urgency that you take care of clients. (Hopefully a greater urgency…)

Unless you schedule things that are important to you and adhere to them with the same consistency that you have with scheduling a client’s session.

Unless you realize that paying ‘present you’ and ‘future you’ (i.e. – retirement) is more important than paying the business.

Unless you realize that you own the business…it doesn’t own you – so you should act accordingly.

Unless you do all of this and more…the things that go into building and growing the business of you…you’re destined for a crash.

It might be burnout or a growing resentment of the very thing you were so eager to build.

It might be a failure to take care of your own health and fitness…the very things that drew you to the field.

It might be alienating your family…the very people you wanted to make proud with what you were creating.

So here’s what I propose:

Take a lesson from the greatest investor of our time…Warren Buffet.

Of all the potential investments available to you, he suggests that the greatest investment you can make is the investment in yourself…so start with the business of you.

Build from the inside out.

Know that if you become a better leader – you’ll have a better team.

If you’re happy at home, you’ll be happier at work.

If you’re healthy, the energy you have will spread throughout the business.

You’re in the business of helping others become the best version of themselves…so lead by example.

I assure you that you can have a great business and have a great life outside of work…but it’s a lot like when you tell your clients they can lose weight.

They think that it’s all about deprivation. Giving up what they enjoy now in hopes of having something different.

When in truth, it’s about embracing change, evolution and new habits.

It’s about making better choices and becoming a better version of yourself.

It’s no more you ‘starving’ your personal life to build a business than it is them starving themselves to lose weight.

So take your own advice and start building the business of you.