After more than 40 years as an entrepreneur, I’ve found three truths for achieving success + a happy work/life balance.
These should be self-evident, but for many people take decades to realize, because they are not taught in school:
First – the ONLY thing in life you cannot buy more of, replace or trade fairly is YOUR TIME.
When we are younger or hungry, we unfortunately give this away freely without recognizing how it is both precious and grows in value as we age, regardless of our success (or failure)
Second – it does not matter what your business idea MAKES, it only matters what YOU TAKE HOME.
It is often better to devise a simple and profitable “lifestyle” business by yourself than to build a large and complex one that requires too many people and costs to be profitable.
Third – your business should never feel like WORK. Though you will have some frustrating or confusing days, it should feel like PLAY.
Otherwise you are violating the first truth and are wasting your Time. This becomes harder and harder to correct as you get older.
While I’m still somewhere in the middle of my entrepreneurial journey at 56 years young, these truths are helpful to anyone of any age. I wish I had figured them out (or listened to older mentors) earlier in my life…because these are universal no matter one’s age or stage.