With any Q3 planning you may have done/be doing, consider the non-financial benefits your business gives you…
In what feels like forever ago, I worked in Peace Corps’ marketing department, left to help launch AmeriCorps and stayed with the Corporation for National Service moving from marketing to budget.
I adored those positions and only left D.C. for Massachusetts when my Dad got sick.
In Mass, I became director of ops for a national satellite television company and, despite a 125+ mile commute each day, stayed until the office was closed seven years later.
That was when a clear decision needed to be made: get a salary-stable job in Boston with another long commute or go out on my own knowing I was single with a mortgage and risk it all.
I chose the latter over 18 years ago and haven’t looked back once.
When people talk about “freedom” or “independence” from a J.O.B. perspective, it’s often associated with “your number” – the dollar amount saved that allows you to walk away at any time.
That was my thought when I started this business… reaching *the* number.
Then…
- Dad needed daily radiation appointments and I could take him without fear of reprimand about being late every day.
- Due to dementia, my Father-in-law couldn’t live on his own and would only eat dinner if a family member was there. I shifted my day to be there at 5pm when dinner was served.
- Dad passed and I could grieve for more than 3 allotted days.
- Mum moved to South Carolina and needed help bringing her pets down. Once there, Mini-the-mini-pin got very ill and was close to death for over a week. Not even a question, of course I could stay (and work from her home).
- When my sister got sick, I was able to attend every doctor’s appointment, every chemo, every radiation and even leave home for a month at a time for special treatments in Virginia – three separate times – and still get stuff done.
- When Mum got sick, I was able to move to South Carolina for nine months until she passed, in her home with her pets where she wanted to be.
- And when my sister’s cancer returned in full force, I was able to move in as her caregiver, be there when she took her last breath and then take several weeks to grieve.
This is life. You likely have your own version.
This is the freedom that my business gives me – to be where I want/need to be without ever having to make the choice of job vs family.
If I’d taken a job in Boston, I’d have been let go several times over (this was before “remote work” was mainstream).
How about you? What freedoms does your business give you?