What You'll Discover In This Episode:
Have you asked yourself latelyā¦ What do I need to show up my best?
I lead with this question to identify what boundaries my clients need. And yes, we are talking about boundaries today. I get it. Not a sexy, fun topic but itās a very important topic. You either have them and know how important they are, donāt have them and know you should, or have them but theyāre constantly being trampled.
Well, now is the time to put your big boy underwear and big girl panties on! Weāre diving deep into the world of boundaries because they are fundamentally important to your both your business and personal lifeā¦
When you first started your business, you may have made yourself available to your clients 24/7. After all, you wanted to stay in business and reap the rewards of an entrepreneurial lifestyle, right? Well, that was really generous of you back then but you probably soon figured out that was not sustainable after working late every day, working weekends, taking calls before your alarm goes off or after you fall asleep, not taking lunches or breaks, not exercising or eating right because you were always working. You realized you were headed for burnout so you (hopefully) changed your ways and created some business boundaries.
Howās that working out for you today?
Are your boundaries known by your employees, clients, family, and friends?
Are they respecting them and giving you the physical and emotional space you need to do your best work?
Orā¦ is everyone trampling over your boundaries left and right, including yourself?
The thing is, pinpointing some boundaries you need is pretty easy. You hate it when your assistant constantly emails you with questions so you tell her to hold all of her non-urgent questions until your midday meetings. You dislike when your clients call you after hours and leave you long voicemails so you send out an email stating the best way to get a hold of you and receive a timely response is by email. You get frustrated when your kids barge through your door just to tattle-tale on each other for ridiculous stuff so you threaten to take away their screen time if they do it again.
Again, dreaming up some needed boundaries is simple. Communicating those boundaries so theyāre not only understood but respected and then enforcing them consistently, is a much more difficult task. When you donāt have boundaries or the ones you do have arenāt working, your business and personal life are negatively impacted.
And you WANT your boundaries to work! The benefits of successful boundaries are endless:
- Manage your time better so youāre less stressed
- Exemplify respect for yourself, your time, and your business
- Relationships are improved - Clients get better service because they know what to expect and you know what to consistently serve/Family friends know what to expect of you
- Take better care of yourself so youāre healthier
- Increased satisfaction with work and personal life
- Getting closer to achieving a work/life balance
- Preserve your sanity because you wonāt continuously have your lines crossed
- Have more time to focus on the important work that will grow your business
Itās time to not just have boundaries but to make them successful so you can be successful!
In this episode of Productivity Straight Talk, walk you through how to do just that using my three-step framework I teach my clients - clearly identifying your boundaries, lovingly and clearly communicating them, and holding them. Following this framework consistently will help you achieve your goals quicker while preserving your sanity.