It makes me sad when someone asks me how I manage work/life balance because they are clearly under the impression that you need to HAVE a work/life balance, which is not true at all.
I usually get this question during interviews, or sometimes from someone in my community (who clearly doesn’t know me well yet) and my answer is the same every time:
“I don’t believe in work/life balance.”
Which shocks them.
They can’t believe it.
I’m sure they start thinking I’m a workaholic. My poor family. They probably never get to see me.
But just the mere FACT that they even ASKED ME about work/life balance means they probably believe in it themselves, and so they usually ask me to explain because they’re confused. They don’t get it.
When you’re interested in work/life balance, you’re actually saying that you want to take a break from your work every day. And while I get the idea of not being 100% turned on 24/7, of spending quality time with your family and friends, I don’t believe you need to separate the two.
Here’s something that a lot of people still don’t understand –
THE BUSINESS IS YOU.
You do not work IN your business.
You do not work ON your business.
You simply ARE your business.
Your dreams, your goals, your wishes, your passions, your thoughts, your opinions, your message that you share every day –
THAT is what people buy.
They don’t buy your perfect program. Your course. Your training.
They buy YOU.
Think about the last information product you bought online. Did you know the person you bought it from? I’m willing to bet yes. And you probably read a sales email, a sales page, an ad - something about what they were selling. As you read, you nodded your head. You agreed with everything they were saying. You felt CONNECTED to them because of this. By the time they got to the pitch, you were already a hell yes.
Because you felt that connection.
You had already said yes to other things they were saying.
You had similar beliefs.
You were put in a good mood after reading their content.
And then you buy.
You bought THEM.
Sure, the results you may get from taking their course or program, or working with them 1:1, or whatever, are a benefit –
But believe it or not, the results are not what made you buy. THEY did.
This is a MASSIVE reason so many people continue to struggle making money online. Because they haven’t learned this simple concept: Sell YOU, not your STUFF.
“But Cassie, I’m not that interesting! No one is going to have any interest in buying me!”
I used to think the same. I’m boring. I just work all the time. That’s not interesting at all. No one would be at all excited about that.
WRONG.
I’ve since learned that the more I share my opinion, the more I say whatever the fuck I want, the more I accept that I can’t please everyone and that I WILL offend people (the wrong people, mind you, but still - I had it when people are upset with me), the more I talk about ME and everything I believe in –
All day, every day hustle
Veganism
Vulgar fucking language (nope, I am NOT a “lady”, nor do I want to be)
Way too loud hip-hop blasting from my speakers
Anti saving-money (how fucking boring is that?)
The more I do that, the more money I make.
And I’m not gonna lie –
Every time I share something that I KNOW will offend some people, I get nervous. I resist. I REALLY don’t like it when someone doesn’t like me. But what kind of life is that? Always trying to please EVERYONE? Talk about stressful. I don’t have the time, the patience, or the DESIRE to do that.
So I’ve accepted that I am who I am and not everyone will like me. I now only focus on those who I can inspire or empower in some way. Everyone else can take a hike.
And once I made that decision, life just got so much easier. I no longer have to worry. I just open my mouth and say what I want. And by doing so, I’m able to more easily connect with my IDEAL community and clients. I’m able to change lives. I’m able to enjoy life more.
This is what I’m talking about –
You are enough just as you are.
You do not need to create the perfect opt-in, or offer, or sales page, or ANYTHING.
You simply need to show up, share YOURSELF and do so from a place of service.
Your life lessons will help people.
Your rants will help people.
And yes, your “how-to’s” and “strategies” will help people.
But more importantly, YOU will help people. Just by being you.
Don’t ever waver from the fact that you are enough. That you are perfect just the way you are. And that there are a lot of people out there who need you badly.
They need to hear your words of encouragement
They need to hear you ranting and raving
They need to hear you giving them a verbal ass-kicking
They need to hear you.
So don’t stop speaking.
Don’t stop showing up and spreading your message every day.
Ignore anyone who tells you that you need to separate your work from your life.
Your work is your life. Your life is your work. YOU ARE THE BUSINESS. You can’t separate you from you, right? So stop trying! Just embrace that it’s always about you, it’s a GREAT thing that it’s about you (that’s much easier to share than STUFF).
I used to believe that work/life balance was a thing. I tried for years to set work hours and stick to them. But I always felt resentful to anyone that tried to take me away from my work. I wasn’t able to be fully present with my family, my friends, my kids, my husband, because the whole time we were together I was counting down the minutes until I could get back to work.
All because I didn’t take the time to do ME, first thing.
This is exactly why I’m up at 4:30 every morning. No one is awake to try and pry me away from me work, so I can do what I need to do, and release what I need to release. My journaling, writing, creating. I get it all out in 3 hours and once I’m able to do that, I feel more relaxed. I feel somewhat complete (for the time being, anyway). And so then I can be fully present with others.
But try to talk to me before my work is done and you will get your head chopped off.
I don’t feel right until my morning work is done. My mindset. My messaging. My creations.
Whatever you need to do for YOU to feel that release, do that first thing. And once that’s done, I’m sure you’ll find that you can be more present for others.
I used to feel guilty that I didn’t like spending time with my family and friends, until I realized that it wasn’t that I didn’t like spending time with them, but that I RESENTED them for keeping me away from my work, because I didn’t get done what I needed to get done to feel that release.
Now that I feed my soul AND release every morning, I actually ENJOY spending time with my peeps. 🙂 And I can be 100% present with them.
Work/life balance is for people who do work they don’t fully enjoy.
Love what you do? Then stop trying to turn it off. Remember, the business is YOU.