The Four-Hour Work Week: Do You Believe It’s Possible?

(Well, I work more than four hours, but the point is, it doesn’t feel like work… read on)

I have been known to say, if your business feels like a job, it’s a sign you haven’t built it right. I can always tell when someone doesn’t believe me. They can’t conceive that it’s entirely possible to do the work you’re meant to do, love doing it, and build it around your life. Most people think of their earning  years as a means to an end, something to be endured and tolerated until the freedom of retirement.

I can honestly say that I’ve never had a bad day since I started my own business in 2007. When I look back at my corporate career, this astonishes me. I had many bad days – weeks, and month, even. When I first started my business, all I wanted was to earn enough to match my salary, and be able to set my own schedule. In those early days I hadn’t fully grasped what was possible.

I see this same pattern in many of my small business clients. It takes a while for the “corporate detox” to occur and I think for many of us, we’ll always be recovering employees.

The reality is that years of approaching work and productivity in a certain way has conditioned us to believe that work means getting as much as humanly possible done within a set number of hours in a week. Who says that your business day should feel like squeezing the last drop of precious water out of a sponge, as if your life depended on it?

One reason is that we simply haven’t experienced any other way. The other is that we may not have thought of the non-traditional ways we can be marketing and packaging what we have to offer to bring us the revenue we desire. Most corporate fugitives slide into their businesses doing the same kind of work they did in their careers, and the only change they make is that they’re collecting money in the form of a receivable, instead of a paycheck.

If either of these scenarios rings a bell for you, here is a three step process you can use.

1. Ask Yourself These Questions

When you wake up in the morning, are you excited, or do you feel a seeping anxiety?

Do you look forward to doing what you do with your clients, or do you feel it’s a chore?

When you have a project to do related to your business, do you procrastinate, or do you have to rein yourself in to stop from working on it?

How often do you feel true joy when you work? When do you feel like you’re in the zone, when you feel like you are doing EXACTLY what you’re good at and meant to do?

When was the last time you tried something completely new, and got really excited about it?

Explore this. All of these are clues about what’s working and what’s not for you. It’s your business and it doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s.

2. Envision Your Ideal Day

Play along with me and envision what your ideal day would look and feel like. What would you be spending your time on? What would be the ideal mix for you? For me, it includes lots of quiet time, lots of thinking and writing time spent on brainstorming and working on my own projects, spending some time connecting and keeping in touch with my network and clients, and one or two appointments either working with clients, or meeting with people who are interested in what I have to offer. This is broken up with lots of time outside and being with my daughter to get her to and from school without the bustle and chaos of my corporate style work week. This is the very reason I work with a limited number of clients, because I love working closely and really getting involved in their businesses. Your day might look similar or could be vastly contrasted. It might mean being in an office space, and not in a home. You might thrive on lots of meetings and faster pace, and love getting in front of groups or working with lots of people. When you do this step, it’s important not to rationalize and over think. Tune in to what you’d ideally like, not what you think is reasonable or possible in your current circumstances. Write it out beginning from how you feel when you wake up, through the entire day.

3. Take Inventory and Take the Next Step

Now that you’ve spent some time on this, look at the reality of your calendar and how you spend your time. If you see drastic differences, know that it is possible to do a makeover on your business. It all starts with baby steps so don’t feel discouraged. What matter is that you’ve become more aware of your ideal, and to begin to move in that direction. If you’re feeling great, then celebrate, and take the day off! After all, you’re the boss and CEO!

Want to use this article? You can as long as you include this footer: Sherri Garrity is the Chief Corporate Fugitive and creator of the Five Keys Success SystemTM for ex-corporate employees and aspiring entrepreneurs who want to break free from the confines of their corporate experience and live outside of the ordinary. The Corporate Fugitive system demystifies the business of setting up, managing, marketing and growing a successful and extraordinary business. Visit www.corporatefugitive.com for information and step-by-step resources to take you from overwhelmed employee to extraordinary entrepreneur.