I'm writing this on a Thursday, because I take Friday's off.
Yep, even during a launch. Even during my businesses busiest times. I rarely work on Fridays.

I also don't tend to work more than 20 hours a week. 

I don't take more than 5 private clients at a time.

I almost never work after 6pm.

I pretty much never work before 11am.

I can't tell you how often I talk to people about my life and they say I'm "lucky."
Or their eyebrows raise as they say something like "must be nice," as though I shared that I won the lottery.

And while I'd never say there aren't ways I'm quite lucky, my work schedule isn't luck, it's design.

My life hasn't always been like this.

6 years ago I was a completely different person. 
I ran my life from scarcity and burnout. I was so afraid to say no to any opportunity that I'd teach an 8am class 2 hours from my house for $25.
I'd work a weekend event outdoors all day for a check that didn't fill my gas tank. 

I remember many days where I ate lunch in a bathroom stall WHILE PEEING AND CHANGING MY SHOES because I didn't give myself any breaks between all my classes. 🤯

Looking back, like...

I had to hit a burnout rock bottom before I was willing to change things, and honestly, I'm glad I did.

I realized that what I had, across the board, was a boundaries problem. 

I put myself last.

I never asked myself what I really needed, and definitely didn't listen to the answers.

I was afraid to say no to people because I believed my worth came from doing, and that showed up in every choice I made, whether it was personal or business.

In personal relationships I had a pattern of letting people walk all over me for a long time, thinking someday they'd start treating me the way I treated them, giving as much as I gave. Thinking boundaries and reciprocity would must magically appear after I gave enough.

(If you're guessing that never happened, you win.)

I had to learn that it's much harder to set boundaries with someone when you're deep into a relationship than it is to start with them at the beginning (even if it means walking away from more relationships more often).

Similarly, I had to realize that my misguided idea that I'd somehow hustle hard enough to eventually be able to start saying no to gigs and setting my own rules was a fantasy.

I had to shift my orientation in life from:
"I'm just lucky to be here, I'll take anything you'll give me without complaint (even if it's bullshit)," 

to:

"I am a value-add to every space I enter, so I only enter win/win situations."

I had to ask myself:

1. What would a win/win work life look like for me?
2. What makes me really happy?
3. What are the things in my life outside of work that nourish me, fill my cup, inspire me, and make me excited to give?
4. What is my dream day, week, month?
5. What are my actual priorities, and how do those differ from how I'm spending my time and money?

By answering these questions, I began to put myself first, and consider how I could build a business to support me, rather than running myself ragged trying to support my business. (Feel free to answer them for yourself!)

Now, this is a blog post, so I'm truncating the part where there was a lot of deep emotional healing required to embody this new way of being (because our business will require growth from us, like every other relationship does).
It was less triumphant montage, more composing a lot of very difficult emails and having a pit of anxiety in my stomach as I practiced saying no, firing clients, turning down (low paying) gigs, and raising my prices.

But in a relatively short period of time, I did design a life that I love, and a business that supports it.
I'm living it now, as I pre-write content so that I can spend my Friday's on the beach.

That's what a business that fills my cup looks like. So that's what I built. 

And that's what I want to help you build, if we work together.

Yours wont look like mine, because your needs, wants, and dream days are your own.
But I promise, they aren't too radical, too strange, or too unobtainable. You can have whatever you like.

Truly.

PS. These are the kinds of mindset and approach shifts we make when we move from employee or freelancer into entrepreneur and CEO.

If you haven't grabbed the private podcast feed From Freelancer To CEO: What No One Is Teaching You About Building A Profitable Business yet, go grab it, and take a listen.