Entrepreneurs are serial offenders when it comes to living unbalanced lives.
While the tools have never been more accessible for building massive personal wealth, if you race towards accumulating millions of dollars before you start focusing on your emotional well being then you might arrive at your finish line completely burned out.
The archetype of the overworked business person working 12 hours a day isn’t far from the truth for a lot of entrepreneurs throughout their businesses’ growth.
Lack of sleep doesn’t make you noble. Exhaustion isn’t a badge of honour. Having your default response to “How are you?” be “SO busy!” doesn’t make you a more valuable or interesting person than others.
So why aren’t love and balance commodities that are focused on more often?
Entrepreneurs tend to focus solely on business in the startup phase of any new business venture. The unspoken logic is that the accumulation of wealth will lead to overall fulfillment. If entrepreneurs are lucky (i.e. hard working) enough to achieve this, they sometimes realize that they’ve arrived at their finish line having no one to share the success with.
Making your love relationship a priority will bring greater emotional and financial success to your overall life more than anything else you could do for yourself. Even on a chemical level, the dopamine, oxytocin, and endorphins that are released by being part of a thriving relationship will carry you through the tough phases of your businesses growth and give you a shield against that which would normally topple you (and your business).
Here are the three reasons that entrepreneurs need to invest in their intimate relationships for greater financial success and emotional fulfillment.
1. Finding A Balance Between Striving And Contentment
The most common objection to investing in relationships that entrepreneurs tend to give is that they don’t have the time to spare.
Being too busy working to invest in your emotional and romantic life is like saying you’re too busy driving to slow down to fill up your gas tank. Eventually you’re going to run out of fuel and blow a gasket.
If all you do with your life is strive, grow, and achieve in your business and financial life without balancing that with the beauty and comfort that comes from spending the occasional day relaxing with your lover (in or out of bed), you will forever feel deeply unfulfilled. Humans are a social species and we need emotional intimacy and physical contact to thrive.
2. Entrepreneurs Need Someone To Lean On
Entrepreneurship is stressful.
Is your goal to get carpel tunnel syndrome by the time you’re 35 from being on a computer so much? Or is the goal to build a lifestyle business that gives you more freedom?
When your eyeballs are glued to your screen, your neck muscles are tense, and you’re burning the midnight oil (yet again) and your partner comes up behind you to gently encourage you to call it a night, you are thankful for the reality check.
Freedom and independence from being an employee is a challenging and noble mission. But don’t try to make yourself independent from love and intimacy along the way. It’s not an “either/or” situation. You can have a thriving love relationship while you grow your dream business with patience and persistence.
You need someone to listen to you and guide you, and your partner can be the catalyst that reminds you to enjoy yourself in the present moment.
3. Entrepreneurs Need Someone To Remind Them Who They Are
The path to owning and operating a thriving business can be a long one… but it doesn’t have to be a lonely one.
When you are writing that important blog post, about to close that client, or facing a new challenge, you might feel overwhelmed. And while it’s possible to feel like you and your partner can read each other’s minds, it’s unlikely, so open up a little and tell them what you are thinking or how you are feeling. Maybe you can brainstorm ideas or solutions with them. You may not even need advice, but just talking about a concern out loud can help you clarify it for yourself.
Your stress level can go down dramatically with a comforting hug from your romantic partner. But what you need will be different at various times, so if you are needing encouragement, express your self-doubt to your partner. Everyone’s self-confidence dips at times, and your partner will love that you have turned to them for emotional support.
They will remind you of your core mission in life. They will tell you why you do what you do when you feel like momentarily giving up. They will be the voice of reason when you need it the most.
More than just being someone to lean on, your relationship partner will be the calm before, during, and after the storm that you sometimes feel like you live in when trying to run your business.
Entrepreneurs Can Have It All
You can find a balance between your love of the freedom that your revenue affords you, with the love of your relationship partner wrapping their arms around you as you cuddle up for the night.
Can you make a million dollars while being single? Of course you can. But if you can get there even faster by being in a relationship, then why wouldn’t you?
And just like you are most likely to skip the gym when you need it the most (when you’re stressed and overworked), entrepreneurs are prone to ignoring their intimate relationships in search for revenue and societal influence.
So listen to your partner, work on your relationship more than you work on your business and their support and intuition will help guide you.
Your romantic partner will bring the sense of balance and contentment that you so desperately need in order to arrive at your businesses milestones with a smile already firmly plastered across your attractive face.
Investing in your love life is good for your health, and your bottom line will thank you.
This post was originally published in projectlifemastery.com
Image credit: www.businessinsider.com
