If you are anything like me, when you first started your business you thought you had to devote every waking minute to making sure it was successful.  Before work… after work… on your lunch break, you would break dates, ignore friends – all for the sake of having the six-figure dream. 

Been there. Done that. Own the sweatshirt.

See, the one thing they don’t teach you when starting a business.  The one thing a lot of “coaches” ignore is the sacrifice put on your family, friends, and loved ones.  They say things like “if they love you they will understand”, “they need to support you more” or my favorite “if your time is now, you don’t need permission”.  I’m here to call a spade a spade – Girl, maintain your happiness while building your business.  What is the benefit of owning a six-figure business if you ruin your relationships in the process?  Now, don’t get me wrong – I am not saying sacrifices will not be made… nor am I saying you will not have to work twice as hard… and I am definitely not saying that you will be able to hit the club as often as you would like… I am simply saying “maintain your relationships”.  

@@Busy will no long ruin love for me@@

Here are 3 helpful tips on how to #RomanceYourHustle and keep your relationships in order.

1 – Get organized.  My favorite planner is the Day Designer by Whitney English. The original version. I currently own the daily and a To-Do & Today version.  I plan out everything!  Client callbacks? It’s on my schedule.  Date night?  It’s on my schedule.

Getting organized is one of the first things I teach my 1:1 clients.  Having an effective schedule is essential to the success of not only your business but your home as well.  I break my schedule down into Monthly, Weekly, and Daily.  My monthly schedule includes things like bills, marketing themes, vacations, biz travel and my client blocks.  My weekly schedule is for things that happen week after week: workouts, checking my email, setting up my social media campaigns, writing blog posts, content creation and planning my schedule. If you are a mom, you would put your kid’s dance lessons, football practice or recurring soccer games in this section.  My daily schedule is for client appointments, date night, self-care, deadlines.  Important Note:  When I have an approaching deadline, I like to also add a reminder the week before and begin the task in my down time.

2 – Speak Up.  Ladies, I get it. We are wives, mothers, sisters, daughters, best friends, the favorite aunties, the office super star.. and now we want to add the title of the entrepreneur to our plates.  You are not superwoman.  Before you make the decision to take your business to a serious level of success include your partner.  Explain to him/her why this is important to you.  Help them understand why you will need his/her support.  Talk with them – not at them.  Remember, everyone does not have the spirit of an entrepreneur so they may not understand, and that is okay.  The mission here is not to get them to see things through your lenses because that may never happen, your sole objective is to make sure they feel included.  Your decision to uplevel your business will affect him/her.  Would you want someone to plan your life for you without your input?  I know I don’t.  

3 – Unplug.  I recently read a story on Facebook where a young entrepreneur described how she was so dedicated to the success of her business, she worked on it close to 80% of her honeymoon. Yes, her freaking HONEYMOON.  A few years later her husband actually admitted to her that he wished she would have left her laptop at home so they could have taken the time to enjoy each other’s company more.  I’m sorry, this is crazy and a bit sad (at least to me).  Ladies, we have to unplug.  Take the time to enjoy life and nurture our relationships.  This is why it is extremely important to set-up the systems that will allow your business to run while you are away.  Your business should not stop because your Macbook isn’t on your lap.  I have an entire module dedicated to this is my $5K Profit Academy course.

So there you have it.  My three tips to building your empire without losing out on love.

Do you have any tips you would like to share? I’d love to hear them – share them in the comments section.