by Paco Collazo
I set some really big goals for myself this year in order to compensate for the past few. I had been laser-focused on building a company from the ground up—an all-hands-on-deck experience to say the least.
I didn’t really have that much time to figure out my personal goals, so at the beginning of this year, my first goal was to have concise and achievable goals for different areas of my life—quality time with family, personal health and fun. The separation between these areas provided clarity and made it easier for me to put a plan into action.
Some people think that as a business owner you’re magically good at keeping your life together, but entrepreneurs, or most likely solopreneurs, will understand that at times it gets really hard to separate business from personal life.
And that’s one of the reasons why I had been reluctant to make a set of goals solely for my personal life. Several aspects of my day-to-day have changed thanks to my business, so it is only logical to make a clear distinction between the two, because even if they are closely related, they are not siblings.
The first step into growing my business was to accept that I needed help, and that meant hiring and leading other people. Even though I had previous experience in hiring and training when I worked for other people, my goal now as a business owner was a bit different: build value into our company by keeping clients happy while having steady growth.
One of my most important goals that has remained throughout the years is having a healthy work-life balance. In order to have a successful business, I need to take care of my personal relationships and growth. I think that having good relationships with other people has given me an acute sense of the way a business relationship should be built.
And for this reason, it is key to reflect on the ways our personal goals drive us to be better leaders. This motivates me to pursue them and keep myself accountable, considering that further down the road all of this discipline and these skills achieved through my personal intentions can translate into effectively leading other people and running a business.
It’s difficult to stay motivated when times are tough—a looming recession, limited resources, including sourcing personnel, and other social circumstances—but this is why we love this job. It is always challenging and never boring. That’s why practicing discipline in areas parallel to your career helps you stay on track.
So even if these areas are not siblings, it doesn’t mean that they are strangers to each other. It’s useful to recognize that these two can coexist successfully and furthermore, potentially give you great insight into the ways you can improve your work.
