Lifestyle Entrepreneurs’ Mastery of Work and Play

The lifestyle entrepreneurs’ mastery of work and play is often viewed a competitive edge. Britt Michaelian, lifestyle entrepreneur and CEO at Soluma Productions explains, “The difference between lifestyle entrepreneurs and regular entrepreneurs is that we see our lives as a whole picture that includes our business and personal goals, so we strive to live a more balanced lifestyle.”

While many entrepreneurs seek to recharge, find time to vacation, and curb stress Colin Wright implies that, “becoming a lifestyle entrepreneur [is] about melding life … and work … so that [you] no longer need to achieve a balance between the two: they [are] one in the same.”

“The reality is, most entrepreneurs create day jobs for themselves; only the hours are longer and the stress much higher,” Sean Ogle explains. “When you build a business around the lifestyle you want, the exact opposite happens. I’m able to work less, do more, and live a relatively stress free lifestyle.”

Lifestyle Design Tips for Entrepreneurs

The good news for entrepreneurs is that work-life balance and lifestyle businesses are now easier to attain, than ever before. Here are seven practical tips from world-renowned lifestyle entrepreneurs, to help you get started:

1. Figure out what you want to do and take small steps. Exile Lifestyle founder, Colin Wright suggests, “Figure out what you want to do — where you want to be in life, and professionally — and start taking small steps in that direction immediately. Any hesitation and you risk losing the motivation, because that ideal situation may be a long way off in the distance. But if you keep moving forward, and are willing to change your goals as your priorities shift (and they will), you’ll get there eventually.” (@colinismyname)
2. Simple. Start a blog. Sean Ogle, founder of Location 180, says it’s “Simple: Start a blog. I wouldn’t be on this path if it weren’t for Location 180. It’s amazing how many people I’ve connected with and how many doors it’s opened up. It’s also the incredibly easy to start, so it’s got the added benefit of a low barrier to entry.” (@seanogle)
3. Focus on a specific group of people. Corbett Bar, founder of Think Traffic recommends, “Figure out something people need or want that you can provide a solution to. Business is simple when you focus on helping a specific group of people. It’s even easier if you have some expertise in this problem domain to begin with.” (@corbettbarr)
4. Set your benchmarks early.  Britt Michaelian of Work Live Smart Lifestyle suggests, “Map out your 3 month, 6 month, 1 year and 3 year goals and create a calendar with benchmarks so you can track your progress.” (@BrittMichaelian)
5. Focus on online marketing tactics.  Maneesh Sethi, founder of Hack the System explains, “Get good at persuasive writing, video making, and gather an email list … email will make you money.” (@maneesh)
6. Don’t fall victim to paralysis by analysis. Lifestyle entrepreneur Jesse Krieger advises to just, “Start! So many times I’ve seen people with big dreams and ambitions fall victim to ‘paralysis by analysis’. Entrepreneurship is like driving down the freeway at night with your headlights on. You can only see 500-1,000 feet ahead at any time, but you know the road goes on. You must begin heading down the road to see where it will lead, and when you do the next steps, people, relationships and opportunities present themselves if for no other reason than because you are taking action.”
7. Focus more on the business, at first. Virtual staffing expert, Chris Ducker shares that, “Focusing more on the business at first, I think, is needed. Once you’ve got systems and processes in place, and you’re making a little money, the ‘lifestyle’ side of it all becomes so much easier to attain. Being in control of your lifestyle is a beautiful thing, however, without the business side of things being successful, the life that you create for yourself won’t last very long! (@chrisducker)

Disclosure: This post is brought to you by Visa Small Business and I receive compensation for my time from Visa for sharing my views in this post, however the views expressed here are solely mine, not Visa’s.