Step back and take a good look at your 2011 business. Because (for most of us) our business is our life… this “Big Picture” view means taking a look at how well our “life” fit into the mix.

Business is NOT just about money… we have all seen to many people chase a dollar and loose out on enjoying “life”. I don’t want to be one of “those” people that says “I’ll have fun when I make enough money”.  Every day should have some “fun” built into it – and this is my new philosophy.

I’ll be the first one to raise my hand and say “Money does make the world go round”. Making money is a super hard challenge and some days I feel like I’m “willing” the money tree to just grow and spit out new money leaves.

Bills pile sky high… streams of income dry up… something is broken and needs to be replaced… one of my kids “needs” something and mom comes to the rescue… life happens.

I don’t spend nearly enough time with my family and friends… because “time is money”. Even when I’m spending some precious time away from business… I’m thinking about it.

Something Has To Give!

I made money this year… every year I make more and yet it’s not enough. Why? Because every year – more money needs to be spent and the profits (What we get to keep) seem to be small compared to the “effort”.  I’m a big fat weenie when it comes to creating a budget I can follow… and I “KNOW” a budget is what I need. Budgets would help me keep more of my profits!

I usually create a budget every year… last year was a “doozy” of a budget and by March I was lost again.  Grrr.

And… It’s not just a money budget that I need, but a time budget. When you work for yourself full time… we are not on the “clock” and can spend as much time as we want “working”.

I tend to throw myself into a specific “portion” of my business… and let all the other business “portions” hang on for dear life.  This also seems to be how I run my personal life as well… LOL. I will devote time to “some people” and the rest of family/friends are left to “hang on – I’ll get back to ya”.

That’s where the “Something has to give” came in this year… and almost everything just got the “give up” and I was left juggling air instead of all the balls I needed to keep up with.

For some reason… This year – 2012 – fells different. I’ve got the Big Red Marker out and I’m slashing “stuff” out of my life/business.

Several years in a row I’ve spent time with my microscope and magnifying glass – looking at my entire business model and slashed “here and there”. What usually happens is this: I’m slashing with one hand and adding with the other. Sound familiar? I’ll bet it does… it happens to the best of the best.

This year I’m not going down the same path… I’m taking a “Big Picture” look at my entire life/business and slashing out everything that doesn’t fit a very small criteria.

• It doesn’t make me feel “good” – this is different than it “makes me happy”. We all have “stuff” in our business/life that makes our stomach knot up (You know what I mean).
• It has a “fun” quotient. Not everything we do is “fun”… but somewhere in the mix I need something to be fun or interesting or challenging (In a good way).
• It has to make money (if it’s business related). Not just a few pennies… but serious cash – or it’s Slashed.
• Somewhere/Somehow it has to be meaningful.  I need to make a difference in my personal life and my public life as well.
• I need to have the “time” to devote to it. I’m tired of the “I’ll get to it eventually” stuff.
• Not everything I do during the day needs to be business related. I’m scheduling in “Slack Time”.

That’s IT! If what I’m doing in business/life doesn’t fit into that list – It goes!

I do have “stuff” I have to do in business that I just “loathe” but necessary. This goes for my personal life as well.

• I have a housekeeper – the best $75 I spend every two weeks.
• I have a book-keeper that comes once a month and does in one day (a very long day) what used to take me days… and never got done “On Time”.
• I have an accountant that does payroll, monthly, quarterly and yearly tax “stuff”.
• I have an attorney that takes care of our corporate “keep out of hot water” stuff.
• I have a contract worker who does a lot of technical stuff for me.
• I have a ghost writer that does some of my “drudge” writing. She makes me sound enthusiastic when I’m just NOT.
• I’ve “given” the stuff that makes my stomach churn over to others that don’t take it all “so personally”. I’ve found that the small cost is worth every penny.
• I use automatic banking – bill paying. This is because I can’t remember to pay anything on time – my head is toooo full of other stuff
• I have lot’s of my “basics” shipped to me auto-magically from Amazon. We never run out of coffee!
• I have Google calendar set up to remind me daily of what “has to be done today”. I don’t always pay attention… LOL.

This is just a short list of some of the things I’ve done over the years to simplify and get rid of the “drudge – I loathe doing this” stuff.

Yes… when I slash I’m still adding.

I have huge HUGE plans for my 2012 business. I’m still working out all the plans in detail – I’ll be sharing some of those details in the next article.