You’re probably not made to run a business but that’s okay

Written by Naja Shafiq

I was watching this one video the other day.

It’s Chris Do from the Youtube channel TheFutur, he was coaching Melinda Livsey, a freelancer about her design business.

In the videos he asked, what does she want to achieve, & after she answered, he replied that what she actually want is a lifestyle business.

That is probably the first time I heard that term, lifestyle business. It got me genuinely intrigued.

Lifestyle business is when you design & build a business to with the aim to achieve & maintain a certain lifestyle.

Building a business doesn’t always have to be about running a multimillion business & managing 100+ employees.

For as long as I remember, the reason why I want to run a business of my own is so that I can do anything I want wherever I want whenever I want.

In short, I want to live on my own terms.

And when I think about it, I don’t really need all that much to make a living that’s enjoyable & fulfilling.

So how do we get to where we want to be,

1/ Be really clear with what you want.
You can’t be what you can’t see. To get something, you need to believe you could. And to believe you could, you need to see that you could. Be specific with your goal to the point that you can visualise it clearly.

2/ Know the direction you need to go.
When you have decided on your north star, you’ll need to figure out the steps to get there. It won’t always be right straight from the get go, but you’ll need to start somewhere. Decide on a next step, commit & improvise.

3/ Focus on it, be obsessed with it.
The path is rough & the journey is long. This is probably the hardest part. It’s really easy to give up & move on to the next shiny goal at this stage. But you need to remember that this is just a dip, it always gets hard before it gets better.

4/ Stay consistent for a long time.
Yes, it’s not an easy task. Heck, it shouldn’t be easy. Because if it’s easy, everyone would be doing it. But if you do it long enough, you’ll get there. Great success is reserved for those who are resilient.

With that being said, it doesn’t matter what kind of lifestyle it is that you desire, even if you don’t want to have your own business, building a life that you yourself want to live is important.

Because life’s too short to not live your way.

Published on 2 May 2024