Those are my “big rocks”. Once those are in, the business gets to fill the gaps, not the other way around.
That is not a New Year’s Day exercise. It is a discipline.
I’ve been doing it for 4 years & it has been a game changer!
The Glass Balls You are Dropping
On the show, Scott shared a visual that really stuck with me.
Imagine you are juggling four balls:
- Business
- Family
- Health & fitness
- Faith or whatever gives you meaning
One of those balls is rubber. Three are glass.
If you drop the business ball, it will bounce. It might hurt, it might be scary, but with the right values, the right plan & the right people, it will come back.
If you drop the family, health or faith balls, they hit the floor & shatter. You might patch them up, but they are never quite the same.
Yet most founders behave as if the business ball is glass & everything else will somehow cope with being ignored. I see it all the time.
“I cannot possibly take three days off with my partner.”
“I will focus on my health once this quarter is over.”
“I will spend time with the kids when things calm down.”
Things never “calm down”. If you do not design it, it will not happen.
The Stories We Tell Ourselves
In the podcast, we also laughed about one of the most common pushbacks I get.
Clients say to me, “That is easy for you, Debra. You are just an adviser. You can set your schedule. It is different when you are running a ‘real’ business.”
Let me be blunt.
That is a story.
I have staff. I have fixed costs. I have clients relying on me. This is a real business. The difference is not my business model. The difference is that I decided to take ownership of my calendar instead of letting everyone else own it.
Scott told a story of a leader he pushed to take 17 days off for a second honeymoon. This person had convinced himself that the business could never manage without him. In the first few days, he went through withdrawal, then he realised something slightly terrifying.
The business kept running. In fact, people rose to the occasion.
If your business cannot survive without you for two weeks, you do not have a business, you have a very demanding job.
White Space Is a Bandit
One of Scott’s lines I quote often with my clients is that “white space on your calendar is a bandit”.
If you leave an empty space, something or someone will steal it.
That is why when I blocked out those two days with my Auckland friends, I did not leave it as “maybe I will take some time off then”. It went into my physical planner, then straight into my calendar as non-negotiable. My EA has very clear instructions: do not book over those blocks.
We do the same with:
- My trips, like my upcoming four weeks in Zimbabwe
- My hyperbaric oxygen clarity breaks
- My exercise schedule, which I now plan three weeks in advance
It is not magic, it is not luxury, it is simply deciding that my life matters at least as much as my inbox.
A Bit of Tough Love
If you are reading this & thinking:
- “My industry is different”
- “My team cannot cope without me”
- “I do not have the time to plan my year”
I am going to push back, because I care.
You are choosing not to make the time. You are choosing to believe your own limitations. You are choosing to let other people architect your life.
Time is limited. You are not getting another decade back because you worked 70-hour weeks “for a while”.
So here is my challenge:
1. Get a 12-month planner, physical or digital, where you can see the whole year.
2. Block out at least:
- Four long weekends with your favourite humans
- One proper multi-week holiday
- Weekly or fortnightly clarity time
- Your health & fitness as standing appointments
3. Treat those blocks as sacred. No “I will just squeeze this in”.
If a client or your team genuinely cannot work around those boundaries, ask yourself whether you are building a business that serves your life, or a life that serves your business.
If you would like some inspiration or a practical guide, listen to my conversation with Scott in the podcast episode linked below & check out his book “Who is the architect of your life?” on Audible.
He is even generous enough to offer free copies if you reach out to him 💡
Ultimately, this is not about being selfish. It is about making sure that when you show up for your business, your team & your family, you are present, energised & building something that actually feels worth it.
Otherwise, what is the point?
