But then disaster strikes. You get into a major car accident, you become very ill or you injure your back while spotting a client in the gym. It doesn’t matter what the cause of the disaster it’s the result of the incident that’s going to bring your perfect world to a crashing halt. Suddenly you can’t train your clients anymore. You start dipping into your savings but since you only just begun putting any money aside you find you only have two months of savings to carry you through. After that, the money is gone and you have no idea where your source of income will come from.

You don’t have any insurance because you never thought about paying into a plan. You aren’t married so you don’t have the safety net of a partner to help you out. Your once viable business starts to crumble as clients look for another trainer to keep them going.  You ask yourself, “What happened? How did things get so bad so fast?” That’s a good question to be asking, it’s just too bad the question came too late when the tragedy has already happened. Now you’re scrambling to figure out what you are going to do next.

Hopefully this hasn’t happened to you yet which means there’s still time to plan and prevent this disaster from occurring in the first place. While I can’t guarantee you won’t get into a car accident, suffer a major illness or get injured on the job, what I can tell you is that you should start planning for any emergency from day one of your business.

Since you only make money when you work you need to keep working to make money. As soon as something prevents you from doing so, you may find yourself in financial distress very quickly. As a business coach I see this all the time with new and veteran trainers in the personal training industry. They live very much for today and do not plan for their future or prepare for issues that could arise. It’s like gambling with house insurance. Sure your house may never burn down but what if it does? Paying the premium necessary for insurance will allow you start over without the financial hardship. So with personal training you need to create your own safety net especially when you don’t have someone else to rely on in case of an emergency. And even if you have someone to lean on, it’s unfair to allow them bear your financial burden just because you didn’t do a better job of planning in case of an emergency.

As soon as you decide you are going to be an entrepreneur and run your own personal training business you need to start thinking about how to protect yourself against hard times. Most trainers operate as a sole proprietorship and work alone. They haven’t hired other trainers to help them out so they truly have created a job for themselves and not so much a business. I think it’s this mind-set that is the beginning of the issue as to why trainers don’t fortify themselves in case of hard times. We don’t like to think about the what-ifs of getting sick or injured. We keep ourselves healthy so not being able to train doesn’t really enter our reality until it becomes reality and all too often it’s too late.

So what can you do about it and how can you protect yourself? Good questions. Here are five things you should do the minute you decide to be your own boss.

1. 1.       Save 10% of your revenue right away
2. 2.       Pay into an insurance plan
3. 3.       Do not overspend
4. 4.       Pay off any credit card debt
5. 5.       Cash flow is king

Let me first start by saying, if your personal finances are a mess your business finances will be too. If this is the case then get some help right away. Hire an accountant to set-up your books and create a business and personal budget. Stick to your budgets like your life depends on it because it just might. I’m not kidding this is very important.

I learned this lesson the hard way and it took me three tries to get it right and cost me a lot of money because I didn’t follow these five steps. But once I did, my business was solid and I stopped worrying about slow months or if something should happen to me.

Save 10% of your revenue right away

Whenever a client pays you, take ten percent and put it into a savings account right away. Then forget about it. When the amount in your savings account gets up to $5000 then contact an investment advisor and start investing your money. You might be tempted to dip into this savings account when a nice pair of shoes catches your eye or a much needed vacation pops up. Don’t do it. Save and forget about it. This is your future and your safety net. Think long-term otherwise you will turn into the eighty year old personal trainer who has to train instead of wants to train.

Pay into an insurance plan

There are many insurance plans available for entrepreneurs to pay into which provides medical, dental and insurance against loss of work due to illness. Look into purchasing a plan right away. The premiums you pay will be worth it should anything happen.

Do not overspend

It’s easy to overspend especially if that’s your tendency. If you have a budget you will know where every dime you earn should go. If you aren’t particularly skilled in creating a budget then hire some help to get you started. If you aren’t particularly skilled in following a budget then grow up. You’re running a business and you need to get serious about ensuring you have enough cash flow to keep you afloat. Or if you prefer to worry about money all the time then please don’t follow a budget and by all means overspend.

Pay off any credit card debt

How many credit cards do you have? How many of those cards are at or near their limit? How much interest are you paying on those cards every month? Why did you get into debt with your credit cards in the first place? I do not have a great relationship with credit cards. I love to shop and spend money. At one point I had over $15,000 in credit card debt and paid that off using my home equity. Then I ran up the card again and once again had to dip into my home equity. I guess I was a slow learner because after the third time and a serious talking by my husband I had to face the fact that I had a spending problem.

So once we paid off all the cards for a third time I cancelled all but two of the cards. One card was for business and had a $1000 limit and the other card had a $7000 limit. I called the credit card company and asked them to reduce the limit to $2500. This keeps things in control and I pay my card off as soon as I use it. If I don’t have the money then I don’t buy. It’s that simple. Well now it’s that simple but it took me a while to learn this lesson.

So now I’m passing this lesson onto you. Pay off your credit card debt. If you can’t be responsible with your credit cards then I suggest you cut them up, lower your limit and only have one. It’s no laughing matter and certainly won’t help your business.

Cash flow is king

Just recently, I attended a conference where Kevin O’Leary from the Dragons’ Den was speaking. His statement, “Cash flow is king” hit me like a ton of bricks. He said, “Without cash flow your business is dead”. DEAD! I kept thinking, “Kevin is right”. If your business does not have adequate and consistent cash flow you are dead in the water.

The best way to ensure the cash flows like an endless river is to attract, retain and service your clients like they are royalty. Your clients are your life blood and without them you have no business so do whatever you can to show your appreciation and when they do reward you with their money become a miser and save it, hoard it and protect it because it’s the life of your business.

I really want you to start thinking about what you would do if something were to happen to you and you were not able to work. How would you survive financially and for how long? What are you doing right now to put a plan into action to protect yourself? Hey, if nothing happens then that’s great. You might just be able to someday afford that studio you’ve always wanted. And guess what? You’ll have the capital to invest because you’ve taken the time to save your money.

As Kevin says, “You’re in business for one reason and one reason only and that’s to make money”. Yes as trainers we want to help people but are you doing it for free? I didn’t think so. It’s not a bad thing to make money. It’s only bad when you squander it away without thinking about the consequences if something should happen.

They say that what people fear most is not death. Nor is it heights, spiders or snakes. No, the top rated fear is the fear of public speaking. Putting it this way when asked, people would rather die then deliver the eulogy. Well try speaking in a foreign country where no one speaks your language and everything you are saying is being interpreted by someone else. This was the challenge I faced.

I was invited to speak at the Asian Fitness Conference in Beijing, China. I knew before I left Canadian soil that I was going to be pushed beyond my comfort zone with this engagement. It’s one of the reasons I applied. As hard as I tried to prepare and research for the event before hand there’s nothing like the experience to teach you what you really need to know.

I love public speaking. I thrive on audience interaction. I use lots of humour, stories and analogies to make my lessons stick. I throw my body into the presentation and every now and again I feel like I’m being transported to another plane of existence where I have an almost out-of-body experience because I’m just in the zone.

This was not the experience I had in China. Instead my palms were sweaty. I was nervous, apprehensive and second guessing everything I prepared. I was standing in the lecture hall with a room full of eager, young students all waiting for me to share my knowledge, experience and words of wisdom and I was terrified. Would I be able to connect with the students? Would the information I was providing be applicable in China? Was it relevant to where they are now in their growth in the fitness industry?  I had no idea and that’s what terrified me.

I spoke my first few prepared sentences with the only English speaking person in the room, my interpreter. He listened patiently trying to capture the meaning of my words and then turned to the audience to repeat them as best he could.  I would say a few sentences being careful not to get too far ahead of myself and then he would translate. We danced back and forth in this awkward dialogue for ninety minutes.

With so much time between speaking and translation I started to feel a sense of panic and self doubt. I looked around the room and was sure the audience was bored stiff. At one point it felt like time had stood still. I got lost in negative thoughts swooning around in my head like a big, dark cloud. I had to somehow continue but my instinct to run and hide was very strong. How was I going to turn things around and get through the presentation and deliver the content that they were so eagerly expecting?

Then it hit me. Three little words that seemingly came from out of know where. They kept repeating themselves over and over in my head like a broken record. The words were so loud they were practically screaming at me and I had no choice but to listen. In the end, they are what saved me from complete disaster and the paralysis of being in my head.

JUST KEEP SWIMMING, SWIMMING, SWIMMING

I couldn’t believe it. The words from the movie Nemo swirled in my head. Where did come from? I understood what they meant for little Nemo and his quest to break free from the comfort and safety of the reef and head out into the open ocean, the great unknown. Now these words had somehow popped into my head and were trying to comfort me.

JUST KEEP SWIMMING, SWIMMING, SWIMMING

As I continued the presentation I broke free from the spot where I had started to take root and began to relax. I made a conscious effort to loosen up my body. I decided to deliver the presentation as if my audience could understand every word I was saying. I used my body to express myself even more then I usually did. I felt a smile break across my face and the audience responded by smiling back. I kept swimming through the presentation, pressing forward and conveying my message through my actions and you know what? it worked. I had managed to keep my head above water and in the end sailed to victory with my audience on board.

When I say that presenting in China was my greatest speaking challenge to date I’m not kidding. It taught me that you don’t need words to communicate a message, you need passion. When you have passion it doesn’t matter what language you speak because people can pick up on your passionate vibe. All we need to do is just keep swimming, swimming, swimming when faced with challenges. Don’t head back down stream just because there’s less resistance but continue to propel yourself forward and meet those challenges head on.

The next time you find yourself in a tough situation, keep repeating over and over again, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming and you will find the courage and strength you need to succeed. I can’t wait to go back next year and deliver an even better presentation.

Personal training burst onto the world stage in the early 1990s and some industry analysts say it peaked around 1995. Since then, growth in the industry has been steady but not strong enough to keep up with the number of trainers being pumped through the certification process. Trainers used to seek employment at fitness facilities, recreation centers or private studios, but many of them are now starting their own businesses just to be able to work.

The appeal of making $60 to $100 an hour lures many people into the industry. While there are trainers making this hourly rate they are typically more seasoned, possess a higher level of education or focus on a specialty market. They may be considered an expert or have celebrity status. Most trainers earn far less.

Unlike in regular jobs, trainers don’t work a typical forty-hour week but average twenty to twenty-five hours a week. This is usually because working with people one-on-one or even in groups can be extremely draining. Every client requires a trainer’s full attention and focus. Most personal trainers find it difficult to be on top of their game for forty hours a week. Any seasoned professional will tell you that packing your schedule with clients will lead to certain burn-out.

Another issue that arises for trainers is the ebb and flow of work, which has a definite impact on income. Hours can fluctuate from week to week due to client cancellations, illness or holidays. It’s not uncommon to have five or sometimes even ten cancellations out of twenty or thirty sessions booked. There are also two significant down periods, in August and December. Income can drop to almost zero during these months—a savvy and experienced personal trainer knows how to budget for these times of business famine.

Independent trainers often find it difficult to build a clientele, as well. Friends of friends or family members are typically among their first clients. They rely strongly on word of mouth to build their businesses. For a short time this strategy seems to work. However, referrals dry up quickly and unless trainers have some marketing experience they often struggle to find new clients. Without a supply of new prospects any existing clients who leave have a tremendous impact on a trainer’s finances, especially if the client had been a regular.

Long hours spent training and unpaid time applied to building the business add to the stress of income fluctuations and the difficulty in building a clientele. Self-employment features no benefits package, so getting sick or injured could be costly. Some trainers don’t take vacations because they can’t afford to lose the income. Unless the trainer contributes to a retirement savings plan there won’t be any money put aside to retire on.

To get a successful personal training business off the ground takes effort. Even with a plan in place, it’s been my observation that the typical career of a personal trainer lasts roughly five years. Some only make it to three and then succumb to the pressure of trying to make enough money to keep themselves going. They realize it’s harder than they thought and decide to do it part-time—or simply leave the industry.

This is the reality of the personal training business, and it isn’t communicated to you in school or when you take your certifications. You are given no real direction about how to be successful and little if any support once you’re done. Like a rock star you are left to your own talents to make it work.

But what if I told you there was a way to increase your chances of being successful? It’s not a guarantee of success but it can increase your odds, give you a shot at the stage and an opportunity to rock. Successful rock stars have great managers: someone who knows the music business, is well connected and believes enough in the musicians’ ability to help them succeed in the competitive environment of music. A good manager is familiar with the pitfalls of the industry and helps stars avoid situations that could lead to disaster. If a star’s enthusiasm or direction start to waver, the manager swiftly gets them back on track.

If you want to attain (and keep!) rock star status as a personal trainer it might be wise to consider the services of a business coach. Clients hire you as a personal trainer for the same reasons you should consider a coach. Your clients could learn to become fit by themselves but they are more likely to be successful with a trainer coaching them. You help your clients avoid unsafe exercises, demonstrate correct technique and provide results-oriented programs. Business coaches do the same for your business.

Business coaches have served other industries with great success for a long time. It’s only in the past year or two that a handful of fitness professionals has moved into business coaching. These business coaches know the industry and are helping trainers based on their own experience.

While hiring a business coach can’t guarantee success—you still have to do the work—it certainly will prevent you from making costly mistakes or heading down the wrong path. If you are looking for a career as a personal trainer, the right business coach will understand all the challenges you face and help you think about ways to get around each one.

The right business coach…

• Knows where the untapped markets are in the industry and how you can penetrate niche markets that other trainers don’t know about.
• Shortens your learning curve so you don’t fall victim to common mistakes, like writing content for your website that actually drives business away.
• Shares tips and strategies that let you make the most of every marketing opportunity, in print, in person and online. For instance, there are trigger words you can use in your marketing that actually stimulate people to buy.
  • Helps you understand the personal training business cycle and how to keep your income consistent.
  • Shows you ways to earn more money per hour. Instead of earning $65 an hour, you can earn $75, $125 or even $250 an hour.
  • Teaches you how to manage your schedule to create a demand for your services and avoid burn-out at the same time.
  • Gives you the organizational tools you need to plan for your financial future, take holidays and weather the occasional illness.

The investment you make in hiring a business coach can be one of the best decisions you make for your business. Why not use all the advantages you can get to earn rock star status? And the best part is that what you learn from a business coach will ensure you stay a personal training rock star for years to come.

My most memorable first has stuck with me for over ten years because I learned about perseverance.  It was the first adventure race I ever did and it was with my husband Brian. The race took place in Invermere, BC and was a three day, two hundred and twenty five kilometer staged event of paddling, mountain biking and hiking with a few mystery events thrown in for fun.  It was the middle of summer and a scorching thirty two degrees. It was day two of the race and up until that point I remember wanting to quit at least five times but it’s the sixth time of wanting to call it quits that stands out the most for me. We had already been on the course for seven hours after finishing the paddle and bike stage. We were now into the twelve kilometer hiking section.

We were walking along a logging road in full sunlight at two in the afternoon. My knuckles dragging on the road like an ape because I was hot, tired and grumpy. We trudged along for about an hour when the course veered and took us through a meadow. Standing there, nibbling on the green grass were black and white milk cows. It was a peaceful scene and I was taking a moment to enjoy it when all of a sudden and seemingly out of nowhere a bull cow the size of a Buick with large pointy horns turned and started chasing us. We stood stunned like a deer in headlights and then started to run for the gate at the end of the meadow with a crazy bull cow grunting and chasing us. Gasping for air from the sprint I turned to Brian and wheezed, “That’s it, I’m done, I can’t go any further, I quit, I don’t want to do it anymore.” I expected him to talk me out of it and I was prepared to defend my decision but he just said, “Okay”. No arguments, no guilt trip, just okay.

An hour after cow experience, we arrived at a check point and I was relieved to be done. Just as I was about to tell the official I wanted to quit another couple came walking up. The girls’ clothes were covered in dirt, she had scrapes on her arms and legs and blood dripping from her chin. I was sure they would be ending their adventure there too and I felt a sense of relief that it wasn’t just me having a tough time of it. I watched as they checked in and then set off again. She never said a word. I secretly hated her for not quitting. How could I quit now. I wasn’t bleeding. There wasn’t anything physically wrong with me except that I was tired.  I never said a word to the official or to Brian. I mumbled a few choice words under my breath, checked in and trekked on and finished the day.

I had thoughts of quitting a few more times on day three but I never gave into them. The race was hard and it didn’t get any easier but I never gave up even though a little voice inside me kept telling me that I should. I felt such a sense of accomplishment completing the race because of the mental challenge that it posed. To be honest, I wasn’t really satisfied with my first attempt at adventure racing so I trained hard and the following year entered the race again in the solo women’s division. To my absolute amazement I finished in third place. If I had quit the race on day two and not persevered I know I never would have attempted it again the following year. I never would have stood on the podium and felt what it was like to earn a third place finish. I would have never completed more races and most importantly the only thing I would have learned was that when the going got tough, I quit. Instead, I learned the success and perseverance are closely connected and it’s a lesson that to this day I have never forgotten.

I truly believe that the more you fail at something the greater chance you have for success. It’s not when we are successful that we grow as individuals but through our failures. If you look closely at people who you believe to be successful they will tell you about the many failures they’ve had. Your next great success lies in your next monumental failure. So if at first you don’t succeed, persevere and try again because your next great achievement is only a few failures away.

Three days ago I visited the dark side and it wasn’t a very pleasant place to be. My husband, Brian and I left Vancouver for El Salvador. El Salvador is a Central American country sandwiched between Guatemala and Honduras. It’s a charming country which has little to any tourism so it’s pristine. We’re gone for a month so being me I over-packed everything including a library of thirty books.

Our flight from Vancouver on Air Canada, (those of you that have flown Air Canada probably know where this story is going) left an hour late. We had a connecting flight in Los Angeles then off to San Salvador. With the recent bombing attempt we checked the various airlines to confirm what carry-on items we could bring with us. Of course the website was incorrect. So there we were in the airport with our small carry-on bag trying to decide what to stuff into our suitcase and what we could literally carry in our arms on the plane. I ended up having to check three bags. This apparently was a big no no because when we got to LA, Taca airlines informed us that I was only allowed two bags and that they would have to pull all five pieces of our luggage so that they could hand me my carry on so I would only be checking two bags, if this sounds nuts to you, good because it was.

After waiting about an hour for them to find our luggage from Air Canada, Taca finally agreed to just let it go so that we wouldn’t miss our flight. We boarded at 12:10am already tired, dirty and somewhat miffed. Upon arriving in San Salvador we waited patiently for our bags and then waited some more. No bags. We were informed that the bags weren’t transferred from the Air Canada flight and that we should check back the next day. So with the clothes on our back and all our carry-on items in our arms we took our rental car and drove to the house we rented.

After settling in we went to the local shop and bought another set of clothes so that we could at least change out of our dirty airplane clothes. The next day we met one of our neighbors. He lives in San Francisco and comes down to El Salvador for the winter. We told him our sad story and he said, “Yeah you probably won’t have your luggage for four or five days”.  At which time I went completely over to the dark side and instantaneously allowed my stress level to sky rocket. I began imagining that our luggage would be lost forever and our perfect vacation ruined. I was thinking about all the books I packed and our laptops which we had to stash into our suitcase because of the carry-on restrictions. In the space of thirty seconds I had worked myself into such a state that my Brian had to calm me down.

Two minutes after our happy neighbors’ prediction the phone rang and we were informed that our luggage had arrived. Yipee! I actually did jump for joy. I was relieved and we immediately dashed to the airport to claim our prize.

If you’re wondering where this little tale is headed then here it is. I went to the dark side. I didn’t even consider the possibility that the luggage was just late but thought immediately of all the bad things that could happen. Stressful things happen in life. You can plan all you want but plans fall through or don’t work out as expected. There will be people who will feed into this fear and make it worse ie the neighbor. The less you listen to them and the more you start to look on the bright side the easier life will be for you. So when things look like they are starting to go sideways look on the bright side of life it’s a whole lot better than the dark side, trust me.

Last year instead of setting a goal I set an intention. In a previous article I mentioned that 2009 was my year for performance. I wanted to improve my speaking and story telling skills so I dedicated a whole year to that pursuit. Now, looking back I see how much I gained by being that focussed. I measured my success by the feedback I received. An audience member even came up after a session and asked me if I was an actress. Others have asked me if I do stand up comedy. My desire to learn more about performance gave me purpose and direction throughout the year for my continuing education.

Since this strategy worked so well I’ve set another intention. For 2010 my intent is to focus on refinement. I believe it’s time to go back to the basics and simply. I want my audience members and students to understand the building blocks of how to run a successful business, teach a fitness class that has power and impact and train a client to achieve their utmost in performance.  Perhaps you would like to set your intent for 2010 instead of a goal. Think about what that would be?

I would love to hear from you if you would like to share and together we can make each other successful in attaining it.

Innovate by introducing a new product or service.

• Assess your current services and if they look, sound and feel like everyone else’s chances are you should break out of the mould and start innovating. Your ideas are your golden ticket to your continued growth and success. The more creative you are the better off your business will be because it’s extremely difficult for people to copy true innovation quickly. The more new products or services you can bring to market the more potential you have to build your revenues.
• If you’ve been thinking about an idea but haven’t moved forward on it, then this is the time to act. Sometimes people let fear get in the way of them trying new things especially when the ideas have no proven track record. Or maybe your idea is so novel that it’s even difficult for you to assess its value. Whatever issue you may be facing which is blocking your idea from taking form and becoming a reality I say,  feel the fear, have a marketing plan and do it anyway.
• If your brain is completely blank with no ideas then in order to stimulate your creative juices consider reading a book, socializing with different groups of people, take a walk,  write in a journal, paint, sing or even dance your way to creativity. Do whatever it takes to get out of your own head so that you can tap into your endless supply of creative ideas. They are in there and it’s only a matter of drawing them out.

Add new end-user customer in current markets, in new markets, and in new geographies.

• Most businesses spend a lot of time searching for new clients but may not be looking at new market segments or geographies. While I’m not suggesting you start travelling all over the place, you may want to assess where your current clients are coming from and where there are areas for potential growth. For example, if you train in one community but notice that another area is being under serviced by personal trainers then you can set a side a day and train in that area. Find a central location where you can train from and build a clientele from that location. You won’t have to travel back and forth but book clients only on that day.
• Examine your current client base and see if you can chunk them into smaller market segments. For example, you may only train women but discover that most of your clients love to run. You can then target more women who run opening up another market segment to attract.
• If you train mostly men then perhaps you can add women to the mix or young adults.

Sell new applications of existing products or services to current customers.

• Most trainers offer some sort of assessment prior to starting with a client. If you offer this service for free you may consider charging a small fee. Or you can build a bigger assessment program separate from the clients’ initial assessment and charge a bit more. You can package and market assessments where the client does one once every six weeks to stay on track.
• Try adding posture and flexibility assessments as a separate service offering.
• You can also provide thirty minute partner assisted stretching to your services. Since many clients don’t take the time to stretch, this is a great opportunity for them to just lie back, relax and get stretched out.
• If you focus mainly on weight training with clients you can build a cardio/speed/agility session to round out their fitness. Perhaps you can offer this in a group setting for your existing clients where everyone comes together and works hard on improving their anaerobic conditioning.

Reduce customer attrition.

• The best way to reduce customer attrition is to treat them like kings and queens. You can never thank a customer enough for doing business with you. Having said this, thanks to all who read my columns and do business with me. I appreciate you!
• Take the time to create a customer service strategy where you work to build connection with each person you are working with. It’s much harder to attract new business then it is to keep people happy who already do business with you.

Raise prices.

• Many trainers are fearful of actually raising prices because they are concerned clients will go elsewhere if they are too expensive. While this does have some truth to it, you can’t keep your prices the same year after year. Annual increases are common in most industries so prepare your clients ahead of time that prices may increase come January.
• If you offer something truly unique and not comparable to someone else you can charge a premium for it. How would you compare an apple to an orange? There are lots of differences and only a few similarities. Would you pay more for one or the other? That would depend on the value you perceive you are receiving. If you are concerned about raising prices for a comparable service then change what you offer so people can only evaluate what you have based on its own merits. Remember, people will gladly pay more if they receive more value for their money but make sure you communicate those differences in your marketing material.

Well there you have it, five strategies for growing your revenues in your business. Take one at a time and build a marketing plan around it. When you have done that successfully you can move on to the next item and so on.  If you need some assistance taking the step to business growth then call me for a complimentary thirty minute business consultation or sign up for business coaching and have regular assistance ensuring you don’t lose out on any business growth opportunities or ideas.

I often discuss with my coaching clients the importance of setting goals, creating a plan and taking action everyday to realize a dream. On this journey many find themselves grappling with issues of balance. One trainer expressed to me just recently how they earned ten thousand dollars in revenue in one month but it almost killed them doing it. They worked all the time and had no life outside of work. While she increased her financial gain she decreased her quality of life to achieve it. As per Newton’s law, for every action there is an equal an opposite reaction and she experienced this first hand.

So how do you minimize this affect? First understand that the law is the law and you can not break it. What you can do is reduce its affect on your life by understanding how to use it to your advantage. Say you want to earn more in your business. It’s reasonable to assume that in order to achieve this goal you will have to increase the amount of time working to achieve this outcome. With this increase in work input, comes a decrease somewhere else. Your task is to figure out ahead of time where the decrease will happen while still maintaining quality of life.  What will you have to give up, shift or change in order to make room to work on this goal?

Here’s an example to illustrate my point. Say you would like to increase revenues from $2000 to $3000 a month.

Action: You intend to offer a new boot camp program.

Analyses: Your input is the amount of time you will spend putting together the new program and marketing it. Your likely work input for this project will be 10-15 hours a week for the first three weeks.

The time spent to action this goal will cause a decrease in output somewhere else. Perhaps it’s the amount of time spent training clients, searching for new business, family time or personal time. The output time being decreased is equal to your work input. Given this realization what are you going to cut out or cut down in your work week and what will be the consequence of this decrease?

It’s important to take note of where in your business or personal life changes will occur when you have an increase in work input. If you can recognize what may be knocked out of balance then you can set a plan to mitigate any long term affect. In addition, you can decide if the extra input is worthy of your effort based on what you need to decrease in order to achieve it. If you decide that the effort isn’t worth the decrease in time because other areas will undermine your quality of life or success in your business then you may choose to change the goal or the plan.

There’s really no easy way to maintain balance. Your awareness of how these opposites work in your life will help you to control just how out-of-wack you allow yourself to become.  The goal, of course is stay teetering somewhere in the middle and not allow yourself to tip too far in one direction. By bringing your awareness to the work input/work output model you will be able to manage your time better and keep greater balance.