The reason you haven't heard from me much since the middle of June is that I've been having quite a bit of fun! Unfortunately, for far too many self-employed people, "fun" is a three-letter word that brings on feelings of guilt, shame and laziness...

Clearly, living to work is no fun at all. In fact, when that happens you are literally a prisoner/slave of your job (I won't dignify it by calling it a career). I know top sales people who have not taken a vacation for over 4 years, and worst of all, they wear that fact like a proud badge of honor!

I've learned the hard way (as so many of us do) how important it is to structure my business around my life, not the other way around. Occasionally however, I do run into folks in this business who get it right.

Several years ago I was keynoting to a large RE/MAX group in Texas. Two charming, elderly ladies sat right up in the front row. During the break we started chatting and they gushed about their latest trip to New Zealand where they tried bungee-jumping! (these wonderfully young-spirited ladies were well into their 60's). Then they went on to share how they were getting ready to visit Antarctica. "Antarctica!" I exclaimed, "Why there?" --because it was the only continent they never visited before.

Clearly these two had their priorities in the right order. When I asked them how they could afford to take so much time off, they very nonchalantly said that they always plan their business around their life, not the other way around.

Wise words indeed...