Fix What's Wrong in '06

I tend to keep these blog posts business related. After all, the purpose of this blog is to pass along the business lessons that I have learned at a young age in hopes of saving other entrepreneurs from some of the troubles that I went through. However, I also think it's important to give people a look inside my personal life because, like it or not, your personal life will be different after you start a business.

In the past month or so I've decided that I am going to devote 2006 to fixing my mistakes from the past. I am going to clean up all of the messes that I have created that will hopefully result in living the life that I want to live. It's not easy, but man does it feel good.

I started by focusing on my work life. Trying to be an Engineer and running my company is burning me out. I am working 80 hour weeks. My head is all over the place. And that has trickled down into my personal life. It's hard enough trying to build a successful company, but I am finding it very difficult to do it while working a demanding full time job (this shouldn't surprise anyone). So, I decided that I am quitting my job in 2006. Done. That's it. It will be tough financially, but I will survive. I will be able to wake up every day and do something I love. How many people can say that they do that? To me, that is what being an entrepreneur (and in a larger light, a human being) is all about.

Once the dust settled from that decision, I looked at the rest of my life. There was a clear void in my social life because I had strained many relationships by devoting my life to my work. I decided that I would need better work-life balance in 2006 or I would definitely burn out. So, one by one I am beginning to work on all of those strained relationships.

There was one in particular that has been on my mind ever since I moved to CT a year ago. My pride and stubbornness wouldn't allow me to reconcile. Instead, every time I would think of it, I dove further and further into my work. While I am proud of my success as a business owner in 2005, I know that it shouldn't come at the expense of those people in my life who are so important to me.

Earlier this evening I spoke to this person on the phone. I hadn't talked to them in over a year, and we didn't leave things on the best of terms back then. It was hard for me to contact them because it meant admitting to myself that I was wrong. It meant admitting that I had suppressed my feelings and emotions instead of dealing with them. But I did it, and words can not express how happy I am that I did.

Somehow, three days into 2006, I feel as though I have done more positive work on my life than I did in all 2005. In my last post, I talked about taking a step back to evaluate your business. While you are doing that, be sure to take a step back and look at the whole picture. I think that you will be surprised how closely related the two are.