Is Your Business Your Life?
February 26, 2009
Do you believe that if you work hard on your business, the rest of your life will take care of itself? I used to think exactly like that. Then I realised that spending every waking hour on your business isn’t the key to happiness. And if you’re miserable all the time, you’ll never be successful.
Is spirituality important to you? It wasn’t to me, when I thought my business was my life. Don’t get me wrong, while I’m far from perfect, I didn’t suddenly resort to lying, stealing and cheating. But because I didn’t have time to think about anything but my business, I conned myself into believing that there was nothing else for us beyond this life. Sometimes it’s easier to tell yourself something doesn’t exist, when you just don’t have time to think about it.
And I guess I’m not the only person who has ever felt like that. Tim Brownson doesn’t let the prospect of hate mail and death threats, deter him from writing on a particular topic. And he has an interesting conversation going on right now – Do You Believe In God?
Health is another subject a lot of business obsessed people tend to avoid. If you’re going to drive yourself to the point where you’ll need a triple by-pass, you may as well be able to afford to get it done private right? And if you live outside of the UK, you probably don’t have a lot of choice. But is your business really going to be worth much to you, if your health is buggered?
Some people believe it’s worth being miserable every single day of their lives, in return for a much better life in the future. I used to believe that. Then one day, I asked myself – what if there is no future? If you hate your work and your life sucks, but you’re hoping to enjoy an early retirement, you need to check out this story: Why You Should Do It Now – The Story Of Boatman Pete.
And if you’ve reached the point where you feel you can’t go on, here’s a short, but inspiring article that will really help: Those Six Magic Words: I Can Always Kill Myself Tomorrow.
Some Related Reading On God, Business and Life
Do You Believe In God? – Stats From Around The World – Interesting, but not completely accurate. I doubt whether one person from Bermuda is a good representation of the beliefs of the whole country.
List Of People Who Have Claimed To Be Jesus – There’s a whole bunch of folk on this list including a film maker and a former member of MI5. But can they really all be Jesus II?
Work-Life Balance – Wikipedia: Work-life balance was an expression first used in the 70′s to describe the balance between work and personal life.
Woman Claiming To Be Jesus Offers Phone Number To Skeptics – Genuine, fake, or just plain nuts?
Nicola Horlick – The woman who made folk feel inadequate if they couldn’t balance a career and pop out a bunch of babies at the same time. She was called “Superwoman” in the media. Trouble was, the average woman just didn’t have Horlick’s mega-salary and simply couldn’t afford to employ nannies to look after 5 kids.
Recovering Heroin Addict Claims To Be God – This guy has a lot of followers, but all those 666 tattoos have attracted a fair bit of scepticism.
Where Was Jesus Buried? I don’t know how important this is, since he didn’t stay there too long. But it seems that nobody can agree on exactly where Jesus was buried.
Small Business Owners Put Work Before Health – Studies show that 44% of small business owners cancel doctor’s appointments to avoid taking time off work. And many save time by waiting until they have a whole heap of health problems, before seeking help at all.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: An eight stage model, which defines the needs of people, according to Abraham Maslow.
Related Resources On This Site
Akashic Records Reading – Can Delving Into Your Past Lives Help Solve Future Problems?
Is Your Soul Damaged? Mine was, until I had an Akashic Records Reading.
47 Amazing Bucket List Ideas & Resources – Things To Do Before You Die.
Comments
16 Responses to “Is Your Business Your Life?”
-
Successful And Outstanding Blogger
Thank you Cath, for referencing my post about my friend Pete. His story changed my outlook on life, and I hope my words will allow his story to do the same for others.
Mike CJ’s last blog post..Switching to a Virtual Private Server Part Two
Hi Mike – you are welcome. It’s a really moving story and one that lots of people need to hear.
Hi,
Glad you are taking care of yourself finally.
Regarding God — or people claiming to be God — well, duh, I am God and so are you. This is one of the topic on my to-write list. Will be writing after I take a walk and spend some relaxing time at Starbucks.
Akemi – Akashic Record Reading’s last blog post..How To Find Your Life Purpose Through Your Life Challenges
Hi Akemi – Thank you. I had a feeling you were going to say something like that. I am looking forward to reading it.
Hey I didn’t access Twitter for weeks and I just got your message – sorry. No – Bluehost didn’t disable my account for xxxx words. I don’t use that many of them do I? I have nice walk.
Well … I think your headlines are pretty catchy. Sometimes I like it, some, like the dead mouse, I don’t. Of course, it’s just me.
Akemi – Akashic Record Reading’s last blog post..How To Find Your Life Purpose Through Your Life Challenges
LOL Akemi – I was wondering what dead mouse you meant. I’m guessing it was the dead hamster.
“Glad you are taking care of yourself finally.” – joining Akemi’s observation.
My business is not my life. It is an important PART of my life, but it;s just that – a part. Actually, looking at my life, it’s the part that would be easiest for me to let go of.
Vered – MomGrind’s last blog post..Pita Bread Recipe: Homemade, Soft and Fabulous
I believe in guardian angels.
Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach’s last blog post..Painfully simple affiliate marketing tip from a Ninja Rubber Ducky
Cath, you might say I’m a superstitious guy, but I do believe in god faithfully. I’m praying everyday and hope god will bless my family and business all the time…
wilhb81′s last blog post..These Collectable Items Can Make You Fortune!
Thanks Cath! I love the interview series and it’s getting more and more profound as it goes along.
I’m very careful to balance my life. I could very easily become obsessive about work, so I schedule time off from it and if the business doesn’t grow as quickly as I’d like it to, I might get frustrated at times, but at least I’m healthy and my relationship is healthy, which are two much more important things.
Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome’s last blog post..Everybody wants to be a (Lab) Rat
[...] Over on Cath Lawson’s blog she asks if your business is your life. For me the answer is a resounding no and here’s a slide show demonstrating a little bit of [...]
Cath,
Years ago, I remember hearing motivational speaker Ed Foreman say that “Life is for laughing, loving and living. It ain’t for wining and worrying.”
Whilst I think it’s important to be engaged in one’s business or job, I also feel that some form of balance is essential in order to have a healthy and wholesome lifestyle. That said, I must admit that this is easy for someone like myself, whose job requirements are not burdensome from a time perspective, than it would be for an entrepreneur experiencing the growth phase of a new business.
With respect to the god question, I am a Christian, and I fully believe in Christ Jesus as my personal savior. That’s where I stand on that one.
Andrew’s last blog post..Employee rights and responsibilities part 10: Same work, same pay
Hi Vered – Thank you. That is probably the most healthy attitude to have, as other aspects of your life won’t suffer because of your business.
Hi Barbara – Are guardian angels sort of like spirit guides? When Akemi did my soul reading, she said I had no spirit guides and I’m guessing that they’re a similar thing. I could be wrong tho
Hi Wilhb – That is good. I hope it works for you.
Hi Alex – I think your interview series just gets better and better each time.
Relationships and health are really important. I should have covered relationships on here but I ran out of time. Impatience isn’t bad, so long as you don’t let it push you into leading an unbalanced life.
Hi Andrew – I suppose that most jobs are less demanding on your time than a business. And I guess the trouble faced by folk starting a business, is that they do have to put in a lot of hours to begin with. Trouble is some don’t know when to cut down. I guess a lot of it has to do with learning to organise time more efficiently.
It is good that you know what you believe. I think many of us have a problem deciding what we believe. Maybe we obsess too much over needing “proof” that certain things exist.
Hi Cath,
There have been times when I let my consulting take over my life. I always put myself under pressure to be doing something productive and laid on the guilt if I didn’t see “good enough” results. My brain was always tired and confused, juggling a million tasks and feeling bad about all of them. It was not a good place to be and I think all my work suffered from it.
Despite its downsides, the 9-5 workweek has been very good for helping me get that straightened out. I still do a lot of consulting/blogging/etc, but I find I’m much more willing to let myself spend the evening quilting (like last night).
Thanks for mentioning my post on the 6 words. Those kept me going in some very dark places. When I look back, I’m so glad that I did put it off because so many beautiful things have happened since!
Hi Ruth – You are welcome. I think the 6 Words will help a lot of people who are suffering.
It’s easy to get to a point where your business takes over your life. I’m glad you have it under control.
[...] Reading On This Site 7 Questions To Ask Yourself Before You Launch A Business Is Your Business Your Life? The Secret Business Success Formula Be A Business Success Story No Matter What Your [...]