What are the non-negotiables in your business?

My client asked me this week, and it developed into an interesting discussion, so I thought I’d share it with you.

She wanted to know what were my daily, weekly and monthly activities that grew my business and what my non-negotiables were.

This year my business will be 8 years old. I’ve had my fair share of testing out different strategies and working with my clients to create strategies that suit them to grow their businesses. But for me the non-negotiables always boil down to the same things.

And they’re not necessarily business-related!

For me, the non-negotiables are around my health, my mental wellbeing and time with my family.

I’m super keen that we all create our own version of success. What does success look like for you? They should be the keystone of your non-negotiables. Your version of success should define your boundaries and what you are and aren’t willing to do to grow your business.

Late last year there were a few posts from female business owners that I admire, but rather than the usual posts about business tips. They were posts about chronic illnesses, relationship strife, family difficulties and legal battles. And they all worked incredibly hard last year. Their businesses grew, they made more money, they were launching new products constantly.

And it got me wondering if the constant striving for success, for more status, for bigger faster can mean that other areas of our life can suffer.

We all work so hard, we want our businesses to be successful, we want to put food on the table, we want to help people. But we also need to honour and look after ourselves.

Especially in the current climate.

That’s why if you downloaded my free Hello 2021 workbook, the first set of questions are on looking after yourself.

It’s really hard to run a business if you’re tired, overwhelmed and exhausted. So spending a few minutes really considering what success looks like and how you can look after yourself in 2021 is key.

When I’m considering my non-negotiables around health, my mental wellbeing and time with my family, over the past 8 years I created stronger and stronger boundaries to protect myself and my time.

When I first started my business I’d not that long gotten over having cancer. And it was a cancer of the immune system, cancer that left me incredibly tired during and for several years afterwards.

And I knew that the cancer had managed to creep into me because I’d not been looking after myself as well as I could have been. And so I know more than most people the penalties for not resting, for not getting enough sleep and for not asking for help when I needed it.

Now, those lessons are hard learnt. And I didn’t always heed my own advice as I started my business. I found it difficult to switch off. I worked through holidays, always with one eye on my phone and email. I couldn’t switch off. I used to worry that if I stopped, just for a moment my business could come crashing down around me.

Now I know after 8 years that that isn’t true. And that rest and breaks are a vital part of being productive. But even with having had cancer, it took me a while to remember and act on my knowledge.

And when I think about what success for my business means, it is to be financially independent, to get to choose to work with people I love and to be able to fit my business around my family.

Those three cornerstones haven’t changed since I launched in 2013.

And so when I measure my business now against those definitions of success I am running a successful business. I don’t need to look at what anyone else is doing, because I am grounded in my own version of success.

What is your version of success?

And those non-negotiables?

They go like this. I never work on holidays. I don’t work at the weekends. I don’t see clients before 10 am. I rarely work in the evenings. I aim to have 3 days where I finish by 3.30 pm to spend time with Robin (this sometimes does get squeezed a little). I’m in bed by 10.30-11 pm every night so I get enough sleep. I have 30 minutes to myself in the morning for a cup of tea and time to write my morning pages. I get fresh air every day and go for a walk. I relax each evening with an hour of TV to just let my brain switch off. My mobile phone does not come to bed with me and I spend 30 minutes reading each night before I go to bed. I have at least 6 weeks off a year, sometimes more if I can get away with it!