Do Entrepreneurs Need Work-Life Balance?

Entrepreneurs always talk about the work-life balance, and how to achieve it. As a woman, I have so much respect for those women out there who are successful mothers and entrepreneurs. I mean, being in a happy and healthy marriage is difficult enough. Couple that with raising children and running business? That seems nearly impossible to me. Perhaps that’s why so many women I know choose one over the other.

What We Sacrifice

To build a company from the ground up requires tremendous focus, drive and commitment. For me, it took precedence over the mundane things in life – like coming home early enough to make dinner for my husband, or being “present” while my blackberry was buzzing away with important emails (that of course I had to check immediately!). For the last few years, my business came before my personal life. When we went on vacation, I spent half the time on my laptop and phone, and the other half wondering what I could be accomplishing if I was working. When I made plans with family or friends,  I often bailed last minute because I was either working or too exhausted. When I spent time with my husband, it was usually because I connived him into coming with me to some networking or social event. And starting a family? Unquestionable until I accomplished X, Y and Z.

The irony is, before we got married, my husband and I constantly argued about having kids. I wanted kids right away, while he wanted to wait a few years. Boy, did we argue about it. But as soon as we got married and started our company, the tables suddenly turned. In fact, if my husband ever brought it up, I’d remind him of all the things we need to still accomplish beforehand. Eventually we stopped talking about it. My husband knew that growing the business and building my real estate portfolio were more important to me than anything else.

The Rude Awakening

But then a catastrophe happened last month while I was away overseas, and I almost lost my husband forever. I’ll never forget that brutal 10-hour plane ride back to NY. I kept asking myself: What IS the purpose of life? Is it to work all the time and push away all the things that money can’t buy? What would be the point of having all the money in the world if I didn’t have loved ones to share it with?

The fear of losing my husband woke me up. I realized that I had no work-life balance. Of course, I can’t (and don’t want to) change who I am, or my incessant need to build and grow. But I could change how I channel that growth. I absolutely love being an entrepreneur and building my company. But I also love being a good wife, friend, and one day, a mother. We all know that there is more to life than just business and making money, but for some reason, I couldn’t see it.

I recently heard inspirational speaker and entrepreneur Warren Rustand speak at an EO event, on how he mastered the work-life balance with 7 kids. He quoted George Carlin to make a point about how we currently live our lives:

“The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness. We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life. We’ve added years to life not life to years. We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor.”

What IS Work-Life Balance

The work-life balance is not simply about working less or starting a family. It’s also about learning how to truly live and enjoy our lives. I’m determined to achieve that balance. Now, I don’t obsess about work when I come home from work, like I used to. When I’m out to dinner, my phone stays in my bag. When I make plans with friends, well…I still sometimes cancel them :)

I used to believe that taking “time off” from work meant that my business wouldn’t grow as fast as it should. Now I am confident that achieving the work-life balance will actually help my business grow, and life would be a whole lot more fun and enjoyable. In fact, I just found out yesterday that my company was awarded our first 5-year hospital contract, thanks to being a woman-owned business (click here to learn more about MWBE). It was the coolest reminder that we can have balance and still accomplish our goals.

Are you an entrepreneur who figured out the secret to balancing your business and personal life? I’d love to hear how you do (or plan to do) it!