The Truth About Work-Life Harmony for Entrepreneurs

Welcome to the Overgivers Anonymous Podcast. My name is Angela Mondor, also known as the Geeky Girl. In this podcast, we're gonna be talking about some amazing things to help you get over overgiving. Hi, and welcome to this episode of the Overgivers Anonymous Podcast. My name is Angela Mondor, and I'm also known as the Geeky Girl. I am a multi-passionate woman. I have a lot of things I'm passionate about, and they ebb and flow, and things get more excitement than others. But I have to tell you, I don't think there's anything more I don't think so. Nothing that I'm more excited and passionate about than helping business owners to achieve success and have a meaningful life at the same time. Now, there's some conversations here about what does that mean and how can we do that? Because balance is this crazy thing. And, you know, I allude to it in terms of, you know, Achieving success and having a meaningful life. But when you think about it, rather than I need to balance these things, think about creating harmony between your business success and having a meaningful life. It is a powerful place to be in, to be able to create the kind of life you want to lead while also seeing the kind of success that you want to see inside your business. And it's possible. It's 100% possible. You have to choose what things are most important to you. And part of the choices in making these decisions can be difficult if you're not seeing a big picture. So, let's talk about some cool stuff today. We're talking big picture. We're not talking massive picture unless you like big picture. Some people don't like to think too big picture. It's a little overwhelming. And I'm totally cool in understanding that. If you're a massive picture person and you want to see big pictures, good, that's fantastic. But some people like to be a little smaller in how they see things. And at different times in my life, those have been different for me too. So I'm talking about your vision and mission. I know I'm using the corporate words, but that's what it is. We're creating the vision of where we want to go, and the mission is why we want to go there. Why are we creating it in this way? And there's lots of different ways you can get to this information. But let's talk about feelings first. Let's talk about the concept of creating these things. The purpose of these things is your vision and your long-term goals will actually help you to craft the kinds of opportunities that you would like to partake in or allow you to say that's a good opportunity or that's not a good opportunity. I know when I was running my business without that vision, without the mission behind it, I mean, I always had a bit of a mission. That one was easier for me, but the vision was harder in the beginning. But I was allowed to be led astray, let's call it, because I wasn't sure where I was heading either. And other people would say, this is how you should do it, or this is the way we all should do it. It, and I was quick to jump on the thing and say, okay, well, if that's how everybody else is doing it, I guess I should too. You'll hear me say a lot, stop shitting on yourself, because I have seen that that has caused more pain, more trauma, more detriment to my business and other people's businesses as well. So let's talk about you and what you want. A vision gives you a longer-term view of what's happening inside your business. It doesn't have to be a 10-year plan. It doesn't have to be a 20-year plan. Right now in my life, a 1-year plan is always something I do, even when I've been flowing in terms of time. But right now in my life, I do the 1-year plan, but also there's a 2-year plan out lurking. So my husband is retiring in 2 years. So in our minds, we're thinking, what does that retirement look like? Well, I have to take into account what I'm doing in my business because when we have this transition in our lives, there's some conversations He says, "Oh, this is the things I want to do in my retirement," and then I can say, "Well, here's what I'd like to do during that time too." And we both need to come together and find an end in mind that we both agree on. Isn't that what marriage is all about? So, in order for me to create the type of life that we want, my business has to factor in same as his business, like same as his retirement has to factor in. He needs to make some decisions based on what he wants to do when he retires too that fit in together with everything that's going on. So our long term is simply 2 years right now. It was 3 years last year because we were at a 3-year time zone, but now we're at 2. So, you know, I'm not worried past that. That's enough for me. I just need my 1 year and my 2 year. That's it. For you, it could be different. Maybe you've got some longer-term goals to think about, and that's totally okay too. Break them up however it works for your brain, okay? But without this, without understanding where we're going, that trajectory, you could completely be somewhere Different. Think of it like a road trip. If I said, I'm going on a road trip and somebody says, where are you going? I don't know, wherever the road takes me. Then you could go left, you could go right at every single turn. You'd have no decision as to where you're going. I mean, you could just circle the house for, for days because you could keep turning, turning right. But if you choose to say, I'm going to this location, let's say you're going to go to Lake of the Woods, Ontario. It's beautiful over there. Maybe you're going to Clear Lake, locations in Canada and In case you didn't know, you could look those up. They're beautiful. Or maybe you want to go to Niagara Falls. Whatever the case may be, you've got a destination in mind, and now you can say, okay, well, I'm here and that destination is over there. What choices am I going to make from here to there? So any of these locations, it could be I'm going to fly, I'm going to drive, I'm going to ride a bike, I'm going to walk. We have a lot of options in terms of how we're going to get there. But then we also have the option of, do I take this road or do I take that road? Do I take You know, the scenic route, or do I take a fast and furious all the way through route? Each of us needs to be able to say, this is the direction I'm heading and I'm going to try this. Now, if I said I'm going to ride my bike to Clear Lake, obviously everybody in my family would say, hello, crazy chick, like you have never ridden a bike that far. That's probably a really bad idea, but I can still try it. I might get 10 miles from home and go, this was a really bad idea. Who knows? And then I can say, okay, well, now I need to adjust and change. Maybe this wasn't the best idea. Maybe I actually need to drive a car in order to do this. And so I need to adjust and change my trajectory. I'm not— sorry, not my trajectory. I'm still going to Clear Lake. I just need to change how I get there and clearly how fast. So these ideas is, you know, I'm simplifying it for you. But at the end of the day, if you're like, I'm going to build this kind of business and here's the kind of business that I want to have, that's your vision. And then when somebody comes along and says, Hey, everybody should run their business this way. And you go, but that doesn't fit with how I want to run my business. So no, thank you. It becomes really, really easy to filter out the opportunities, air quotes, that come across your desk. We get hundreds of them. There are thousands of them. There's all kinds of opportunities, and not all of them are hitting you at the right time for what you need to be doing right now. That doesn't mean to say that it's a no, not ever. Sometimes it's a no, not right now. Or maybe later. Having your vision allows you to quickly and easily make those decisions so you're not stuck in decision paralysis wondering, oh, should I have done that? Should I have done this? You make a decision. I'm going over there. This is how I'm getting there. These are the choices I'm making. And then we review. Typically in business, a 90-day window is a really great review. Every 3 months, right? You'll be able to say, hey, did that work or did it not work? What do I need to change? What do I need to move? That allows you to make some plans and see what's working in your business and how you can adjust it and change it so that you can get the results and the success that you're looking for. So you integrate this into your daily life of your business. And, you know, creating a living document is important. A living document could be a doc inside ClickUp, or it could be a Google Doc. It could be a Word doc on your OneDrive, whatever the case may be, whatever you use, but have something that is always the same. Don't Create a bunch of them. Don't create a bunch of pages and worksheets in workbooks that are tucked away somewhere. Have a living document that is the one true source for this vision that you're creating. And while we're at it, let's add a mission to the journey. Our missions can be anything. Your mission as it is right now in your life will be what it is, but things will evolve and change. When I first started my business, one of my biggest missions was to make sure that I was able to be there for my daughters For her hockey games. I wanted to be able to transport her and her friends. I was the mama taxi. I was also the locker room mom for her hockey team. I was very involved in what was going on there. I was very involved in the school, making sure that my kids had the education that they need and the opportunities that they required to be successful. My other daughter, she was an archer, so we would go to, you know, competitions or she would training classes, all that kind of stuff. That was my mission. I wanted a business that was going to allow me to be a stay-at-home mom, but also still do those things as I was bringing up my kids. So that was what it was then. My kids are adults now. They're both 29 and 25. They're grown-ass adults now. They don't need me to be locker room mom, obviously. So how has my mission changed? Well, slightly. I'm still there for my family, and family wraps it a little differently, but I am also there for my community. I get to volunteer. Things like Hockey Helps the Homeless is really important to me. I get to be the volunteer coordinator and get to use my skills for community organization and raising money for the homeless in the city I live in. Halloween's my special holiday. It's my favorite time of year. We have an entire Halloween display we do out front of our house, and every month of October we collect non-perishable food items and cash donations for a local charity that helps kids. 2 of my things that I want to, to look after in this world is help the people who are homeless and help children. So those things are important to me, and part of my mission is to be able to take the time to do that. If I was working corporately, it would be harder for me to spend the time doing those things. Those things unless my corporation was a supporter of volunteering in the community, because not all of them are. Surprise, surprise. So being able to do those things, being able to work from home, being able to work on my own terms, being able to support my family and the community—those are my missions at the moment. But you know, our mission's changing because my husband, like I said, he's he's going to be retiring in two years. So our mission's going to look a little different. We want to move across the country, and meaning that we also want to live a little simpler. I won't be embedded into that community like I am this one. So I don't know what opportunities I'm going to choose to take on in terms of volunteering and that kind of thing, but I'm sure they'll find me as we move across. But right now, the mission is looking after what I have, but I know that my mission's going to change. It's not changing today because it's not ready to change, but know that your mission will change. So will your vision as you move through. I mean, when I first started my business, my vision was to help business owners with their computer systems in their buildings. You know, hardware changes, hardware fixing, adds, moves, and changes with cables and networking. I mean, that was what I started with as a vision then. And then I moved in, my vision was social media management. I wanted to help local businesses to get online and be part of social media. And then from there it changed again. And then I moved into what I do more now of, which is project management, project systems, team time management stuff, as well as helping other business owners like yourself. To actually have this business success while also having a meaningful life. So these things will change. I've been in business, in this business since 2009. So there's been a lot of iterations and changes. So know that if you're feeling like things are changing, it's totally okay because they will. The truth of it is, is to make sure that you know what's changing so that you can be sure that you're making the right choices for you. Allowing it to change willy-nilly means somebody else has got the reins and you don't want that. So You will evolve. Your vision and your mission will both evolve 100%. Knowing what is happening right now is important in your life, but also be flexible. So if you say, this is my vision and here's how I'm going to get there, and, you know, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna deviate from this, this is how it has to be. If something doesn't work out, then is that a hill you're willing to die on, right? That's often where I go with that one. We have to be able to ebb and flow or change, be flexible and say, geez, you know what? I still want to go there, right? Like the whole Clear Lake example. I still want to go to Clear Lake, but clearly riding a bicycle is not the best option. What are my other options? How else can I get to Clear Lake? Those kinds of conversations, obviously you can have with yourself, but it's great to have it with a group, to have a supportive group around you. The Rockstar Success Circle is something that is an organization, a group, mentorship, lots of that inside there. And of course, we We have the Rockstar Planner to help you to manage all of your vision and make sure you're checking in on your goals for the year. There's lots and lots of things that you can be helped with inside that group program. We have an absolute blast every time we get together. We call them planning parties. We're not, we're not just doing strategic planning. We're having a good time while we're at it and helping each other to stay connected to their own specific vision. Where do you want to head? What tools do you need? Maybe there's somebody there that's like, hey, I know this thing and sharing ideas and helping each other to grow and be better at whatever it is that we want to do. We support you whether or not you want to be successful because you want to bring in an extra $100 a month, or whether you want to try to be a multi-billion dollar entrepreneur. Whatever the case may be, we're here to help to support you to get to what that success looks like in your life. Okay, so creating an action plan, of course, is really important once you've decided where that You know where you want to go. What's that vision? Making sure you know what steps you want to take in order to get there. And of course, the Rockstar Success Circle is all about that. This has been fun because it's so important to me, and I hope that you can see the fun side of a strategic plan and creating that vision. Where are you going? And understand what's driving you, that mission. Now, lots of people used to call it the why. That never worked for me, but What, what is it? What's driving me? What's that piece that's keeping me going? That's my mission. So I hope that you've had fun. I hope that you've seen things a little bit differently. I hope you have an amazing week, and I look forward to talking to you next week. Bye now. Thank you so much for listening to the Overgivers Anonymous podcast. Your support means the world to me. You can find show notes for this episode and other goodies at overgiversanonymous.ca. And if you enjoyed this episode or you enjoy the podcast Just in general, why not join us in the Overgivers Anonymous Facebook group, where you can connect with overgivers from all over the world? Head on over to geekygirl.ca/group.