The Hamster Wheel of Hustle

I’ve seen it too many times—you, the business owner, up before dawn’s first light, eyes glued to your laptop until the wee hours. 

Chasing deadlines, chasing clients, chasing some elusive tomorrow where it’ll all pay off. You’re making money, sure, but what’s the actual cost? 

Missing your kid’s graduation day, forgetting what a weekend feels like, that constant knot of stress tightening in your gut. 

The reality is sobering: 62% of entrepreneurs say the stress of ownership is worse than they imagined, leading to burnout and mental health issues. This dream deficit is nibbling at your happiness, taking a bite out of your bottom line.

I’ve been there myself. Before launching Evolve to Grow, I was trapped in that endless cycle. It wasn’t until a holiday in Croatia that the penny dropped. Over a glass of red in Dubrovnik, a conversation flipped everything on its head. I started asking myself: 

What am I really good at? What do I actually want from life?

Stick with me as we discuss why putting your life first and designing a business that fuels your dreams will lead you to true business fulfillment. It’s time to ditch the overwhelm and craft a truly fulfilling life.

Life Before Business

So, how do we turn this ship around? It’s time to put your life first and design a business that supports your dreams. This is about taking control, ditching the overwhelm, and living a life that’s genuinely fulfilling.

26.9% of entrepreneurs struggle with poor work-life balance, significantly contributing to burnout. But it doesn’t have to be this way. We can change the equation.

In my own journey, I realised the importance of having passions outside of work. I often tell my clients, 

“We’ve got to have passions or projects beyond the daily grind. If we’ve got a business goal, we need a personal goal alongside it to maintain balance.” 

For me, that means running marathons, writing, spending quality time with family and friends, and travelling. These activities keep me grounded and help reduce stress and anxiety because I don’t have a single-minded focus on just one thing.

But it’s not just about personal fulfilment—it’s about business success too. When we’re burnt out, we tend to make reactive decisions instead of proactive plans. That can lead to impulsive choices that might not be in the best interest of our business or long-term goals.

Prioritising your well-being and aligning your business strategy with your personal vision sets the stage for sustainable success. Next, we’ll explore how to envision your ideal life and make this alignment a reality.

The Visionary Exercise: Envisioning Your Ideal Life

Alright, we’ve recognised the problem—now let’s dive into the solution. 

It’s time to envision your ideal life and understand why holistic life design is the way forward. When doing this, you can create a business strategy that not only supports but amplifies your personal aspirations.

1. Spill It Out: From Mind to Paper

Start by articulating your vision in a structured way. Taking the ideas swirling in your mind and committing them to paper is a practical step toward clarity and accountability. 

Tools like the Vision/Traction Organizer (V/TO) can be invaluable here. The tool popularised in the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), helps you connect long-term aspirations with actionable business strategies. They guide you through key questions: 

Where do you want your life and business to go? What steps will get you there? 

For example, if your vision involves scaling your business to free up time for travel, the V/TO helps you pinpoint operational changes and team structures required to make that dream feasible. 

This process brings focus and direction to what might otherwise feel like an overwhelming set of goals.

2. Embrace Simplicity

Keep it simple. As Gino Wickman suggests in “Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business,” distilling your vision into just two pages ensures focus and clarity. For instance, instead of listing vague aspirations like “grow the business” or “improve customer satisfaction,” you could pinpoint a goal like expanding into two new markets within the next year. 

This clarity makes it easier to break your vision into manageable steps—such as researching market demand, hiring regional leads, and creating localised marketing strategies. By narrowing your vision, you’re not just documenting goals—you’re crafting a playbook for action.

3. Visualise Your Ideal Life in 5-10 Years

Paint a vivid picture of your dream life in 5 to 10 years. 

Consider these key areas:

• Career: What kind of work lights your fire? Are you leading a team, running your own show, making a real difference?
• Relationships: Who are the key people in your life? How are you nurturing those connections?
• Personal Growth: What new skills are you honing? What hobbies are you diving into?
• Lifestyle: Where are you living? What are you doing in your spare time? Travelling the world, relaxing by the beach, pursuing passions?

4. Use Visual Thinking

Sometimes, words aren’t enough. Try visual thinking to bring your dream life into sharper focus. A study by the University of Waterloo found that visual thinking can enhance creative problem-solving and spark more innovative ideas.

Create mind maps, sketch images, or assemble vision boards to represent different facets of your ideal life. This approach can help you uncover connections and insights you might miss with words alone.

5. Ask the Right Questions

As you envision your future, probe with purposeful questions:

• Where do I want to be?
• When do I want to be there?
• How much capital will that take?
• How many people will I need, doing what work, and how?
• What technology will be required?
• How large a space will be needed at different stages of growth?

These questions will help you forge a more concrete and actionable vision.

The Power of Holistic Life Design

As a coach working with agency owners, I’ve seen one recurring challenge: the constant grind that leaves little room for anything else. 

You’re running a business, chasing deadlines, managing clients, and meeting expectations—but at what cost? Time with family? Your health? Your own happiness?

The numbers don’t lie. A Harvard Business Review study found that 94% of working professionals clock over 50 hours a week, with nearly half exceeding 65 hours. The sad part is that many of these hours aren’t spent moving the needle in meaningful ways but are caught in cycles of busy work. This is where holistic life design changes the game.

Here’s what I mean by that…

Work-Life Integration Is Non-Negotiable

Without a plan that balances work and personal life, you risk burnout. Many agency owners discover too late that this imbalance is silently draining their energy and enthusiasm. A holistic approach allows you to build a schedule where your work doesn’t crowd out your life but instead fits seamlessly into it. Imagine finishing your day and still having time to be present with your family or pursue a passion project.

A Clear Purpose Enhances Well-being

Studies show that having a clear sense of purpose improves mental and physical health. 

When you align your business goals with your personal values, it creates a sense of fulfilment that goes beyond financial success. You’re no longer just working for the sake of it but building something meaningful that resonates with who you are and what you care about.

Creativity Thrives in Alignment

Living a life aligned with your values directly fuels creativity and innovation. One agency owner I coached found their best ideas came not from grinding out long hours but from carving out time to surf—a passion that cleared their mind and energised them. 

Whether it’s travel, art, or just taking a quiet moment to reflect, creating space for personal alignment helps you show up sharper and more inspired in your work.

Fulfillment Builds Resilience

Running an agency is demanding, and challenges are inevitable. But when you have a balanced life, setbacks don’t feel catastrophic. One client I worked with shared how having hobbies like cooking and playing soccer helped them disconnect and recharge during difficult times. 

When one area of life feels rocky, the others provide stability and keep you moving forward.

Sustainability Equals Long-Term Success

Agencies aren’t built overnight, and neither are fulfilling lives. 

A short-term sprint may deliver quick wins, but it’s not sustainable. You create a lasting foundation by designing a business that aligns with your life. You’re building not just for today but for years to come, ensuring that both your agency and your personal life thrive together.

Holistic life design isn’t about creating a rigid plan that locks you into one path. Life changes, and so do goals. The point is to set a direction, giving you clarity and control as your vision evolves.

Translating Vision into Business Strategy: Crafting Your Business Blueprint

Once you have a clear vision of your ideal life, the next step is aligning your business to support it. 

I often ask agency owners, “What kind of business do you need to live the life you want?” It’s a simple question, but it opens the door to rethinking everything—your clients, your team, your revenue goals.

Here’s how we break it down:

Define Your Business Model

Does your dream involve a boutique agency with a small, tight-knit team? 

Or are you envisioning a global operation with hundreds of clients? 

Your business model needs to reflect the lifestyle you want. For example, one owner I worked with realised that scaling their agency would give them more freedom—not by working harder but by empowering a team to take on responsibilities they’d been shouldering alone. Scaling doesn’t always mean more stress; it can mean more room to breathe if done intentionally.

Focus on the Right Clients

Not all clients are the right fit. Who inspires you? Which projects leave you energised rather than drained? One agency owner I coached shifted their focus to eco-conscious brands because they aligned with their values. The result wasn’t just better work—it was work they were genuinely excited about, which resonated with their audience and clients.

Find your tribe.

Set Revenue Goals That Align with Your Vision

Revenue isn’t just about the numbers; it’s what those numbers mean for your life. Are you aiming for financial freedom, the ability to take long breaks, or reinvestment into personal growth? For instance, one client wanted to work fewer hours while maintaining their current income. They hit their goals without working more by streamlining their services and raising rates—a win-win.

The stats back this up: 62% of entrepreneurs report that the stress of ownership is worse than they imagined, often because their business goals aren’t aligned with their personal lives. But with the right strategy, it doesn’t have to be this way.

As Michael E. Gerber explains in The E-Myth Revisited, understanding the processes and goals that align with your vision puts you in control of your business’s growth rate and purpose.

When you create a business that supports your aspirations rather than competes with them, you’ll find both success and fulfilment in the journey. Let’s make that your reality.

The Role of Work-Life Balance in Business Success

Work-life balance has been a hot topic, especially since the pandemic reshaped how we work and live. Research in the Review of Managerial Science found that entrepreneurs’ satisfaction with work-life balance is positively associated with well-being, which mediates the relationship between work-life balance satisfaction and firm growth.

Consider these eye-opening stats:

• Overworking Entrepreneurs: 33% of small business owners work at least 50 hours per week, with an additional 25% clocking over 60 hours.
• Importance of Balance: 51% of small business owners say work-life balance is essential to their success, ranking it even higher than having supportive family members or innovative products.
• Stress and Burnout: 62% of entrepreneurs admit the stress of ownership is worse than they imagined, leading to burnout and mental health issues.

These numbers underscore the necessity of achieving work-life balance—not just for your personal well-being but for your business’s health, too.

Aligning Visions

Aligning personal values with business strategy is about embedding what matters most to you into every aspect of how you operate and grow your business. Let’s break this down with a practical example:

Imagine an agency owner whose core personal values are creativity, sustainability, and family. These values don’t just inform the type of work they want to do—they shape how they structure their business, manage their team, and deliver results. 

Here’s how this alignment works in practice:

Family is a top priority for this owner, so they build a workplace culture that respects work-life balance. Flexible schedules, remote work options, and family-focused benefits are built into their operations. For instance, team members are encouraged to log off by 5 p.m. or adjust their hours to attend important personal events. This isn’t just about retaining talent; it’s about creating an environment where everyone can thrive, reflecting the owner’s value of prioritising family. 

Creativity is another core value, so this agency encourages out-of-the-box thinking in every project. They might implement processes where brainstorming sessions are a collaborative, judgment-free space, allowing their team to pitch bold, unconventional ideas. Additionally, their deliverables often include creative storytelling or designs that make an emotional impact, aligning with their passion for innovation. For instance, instead of just delivering a social media campaign, the agency crafts a narrative that reflects their client’s sustainability efforts, standing out from competitors.

Alignment is not just a philosophical exercise, as it integrates personal values into the fabric of your business, fostering resilience, motivation, and long-term success.

The Benefits of Flexible Work Practices

Implementing FWPs can work wonders, too. Research from Queensland University of Technology found that FWP usage is positively associated with work-life balance, which in turn is linked to well-being and reduced turnover intentions.

FWPs Benefits

• Improved work-life balance
• Increased well-being
• Greater job satisfaction
• Reduced turnover intentions
• Enhanced productivity

Incorporating FWPs into your business improves work-life balance while fostering a more positive and supportive work environment for your team.

Designing your dream life isn’t a one-off exercise—it’s an ongoing process of alignment, adjustment, and growth. Keep revisiting your vision, tweaking your strategy, and taking those small, consistent steps towards the life you want.

As a business coach, I’ve seen how this alignment transforms not just individual lives but entire organisations. When business owners are clear on their personal vision, it creates a ripple effect—fostering a more engaged and motivated workforce.

Now it’s over to you. I challenge you to set aside an hour this week to kick off your visionary exercise. Grab a notebook, find a quiet spot, and start sketching out your ideal life 5 to 10 years from now. Dream big, be specific, and don’t hold back.

Need a hand? Lets connect now

---

FAQs

1. How can I balance running a successful business with achieving my personal goals?

Balancing business success and personal goals is all about alignment. Start by clearly defining both your professional and personal objectives. Then, work on merging these two facets of your life. Remember, it’s not just about being more productive in your business; it’s about using that extra time and energy to nurture your relationships and passions. Your business should be a tool to support your ideal lifestyle—not the other way around.

2. Is work-life balance achievable for business owners, or is it just a myth?

Work-life balance is absolutely achievable for business owners. It’s not about strictly separating work and personal life but integrating them harmoniously. Research from the Queensland University of Technology shows that flexible work practices can positively impact work-life balance and employee outcomes. As a business owner, you’ve got the power to design flexibility into your schedule.

3. How can I identify what my ideal lifestyle looks like?

Identifying your ideal lifestyle requires some introspection. Consider:

• What does your perfect day look like?
• What activities bring you joy and fulfillment?
• How much time do you want to spend with family and friends?
• What personal goals or hobbies do you want to pursue?
• What impact do you want to make in your community or industry?

Take time to visualise and jot down your answers. This exercise will help you create a clear picture of your ideal lifestyle, which you can use to shape your business strategy.

4. How can I align my business strategy with my personal aspirations?

Aligning your business strategy with personal aspirations involves:

1. Defining Your Personal Goals: Know what you want out of life beyond business success.

2. Assessing Your Current Business: Identify areas where your business supports or conflicts with your personal goals.

3. Developing a Supportive Strategy: Adjust your business model to support your personal objectives better.

4. Implementing Systems and Delegation: Create processes that allow you to focus on what matters most.

5. Regularly Reviewing Your Strategy: Ensure your business evolves alongside your personal aspirations.

Remember, as a general rule, your business should be a vehicle for achieving your personal aspirations—not an obstacle.

5. What if my current business doesn’t align with my ideal lifestyle? Should I start over?

Starting over isn’t always necessary. Often, you can reshape your existing business to better align with your ideal lifestyle. Consider:

1. Pivoting Your Business Model

Focus on scalable products or services that require less of your direct involvement.

2. Delegating or Outsourcing

Hire others to handle tasks that don’t need your personal touch.

3. Implementing Systems

Use technology and processes to make operations more efficient.

4. Redefining Your Role

Concentrate on aspects of the business you enjoy most.

However, if your current business is fundamentally incompatible with your ideal lifestyle, exploring other opportunities might be worth exploring. The goal is to create a business that enhances your life—not consumes it.

You’ve got the tools, the vision, and the drive. Now it’s time to transform your business and, in turn, your life. Remember, the most potent businesses don’t just make money—they inspire, challenge, and make a real impact.

So, are you ready to push boundaries and redefine what’s possible? Let’s get out there and craft something remarkable!

---