By: O.L. & Sway
Last week we flew out of Newark Liberty to make memories with family. My (Sway) mom had a birthday. Since she usually's overseas for her birthday (living a missionary life fighting human trafficking), we jumped at the opportunity to celebrate with her for a few days.
One of the primary reasons we run our own business is to have the freedom to make life-giving opportunities like being with loved ones. The quality of life for us has a lot to do with freedom and flexibility in life.
But here's the thing. It's easy to leave one rat race and create your own and not even realize it. 🙃
In full transparency, this is why we created the Marriedpreneur Operating Systems over ten years ago. Once we started working full-time in our business, we realized that we had become slaves to our businesses.
The tail was wagging the dog, and it wasn't sustainable. We were building a life we loathed. It was a tough season.
If you're experiencing this now, there is hope! Whether working a 9-5 while building a business or building your own full-time, the toxic rat race will try to chase you down and trap you.
Beware.
Here are a few practical steps we took to escape the rat race (we made for ourselves):
- Be honest: Know your capacity. Be honest about it. Stop over-committing and then being resentful afterward.
- Set Boundaries: This is for yourself and others. Even the things your love to do need boundaries to capitalize on your time and energy
- Be Accountable: We've said this all the time. Use each other as an accountability partners if possible. If not, enlist a friend. Hire a coach. Do what you must to show up better.
- Address the Root Cause: Sometimes, we go through start-stop cycles and don't know why. Get introspective. Learn your triggers. Go to therapy. Get support. And, of course, pray to God for help.
- Have a Quarterly Legacy Meeting: These always get you on track when you and your spouse get out of alignment.
These are some first steps to escaping the rat race that you may have created for yourself. There's hope! We're rootin' for you!
Here's to living purposefully, powerfully, and profitably in sync,
O.L. & Sway
O.L. is a former banker turned real estate consultant and entrepreneur. Sway is a former CEO of a staffing firm she started on her dorm room floor to pay for college. Together they co-own Marriedpreneur Life Consultancy, equipping married entrepreneur couples with high-level systems to scale without strain. They're the co-hosts of The Marriedprenuer Life Podcast, which was praised as one of Wedding Wire's top relationship podcasts. Learn more at MarriedpreneurLife.com.