The composer, Gustav Holst, was instructed by his doctor to take a year out from his teaching, lecturing and conducting as he was suffering from exhaustion and overwork. At the end of 1923 he left London and retreated to rural Sussex to recuperate from his condition. It proved to be an excellent move as, not only did he recover from his exhaustion, but he was able to work on his Choral Symphony in bucolic bliss. His setting of poems by John Keats was a perfect inspiration for his situation. He said later, after completion of his work: “It has been wonderful to sit in the garden and to watch the symphony grow alongside the flowers and the vegetables, and then to find that it is done!”
There is a lesson here for everyone in any walk of life, not least someone involved in the business of internet marketing. It can be a temptation to become so focussed on the business that you become totally detached from the world around you. If you find that you are falling into that particular trap it’s time to take stock. Ask yourself the question: “Why am I running my business?”
The entrepreneur who first got me fired up with the possibilities of an online business repeatedly says, both in his presentations and in his writings, that internet marketing is not about money, it’s about the freedom and the quality of life which the money can give you. More often than not, this is what attracts people to the business in the first place. It is the appeal of being free to control their own life, to make their own choices to be free of the restrictions of employment. If you find that you are so immersed in your business that you lose sight of all this then it’s time to have a serious rethink.
Be like Holst and enjoy your business, watching it grow alongside the fruit and vegetables. Don’t let your whole world be defined by the four walls of your study. If you feel that your life is completely dominated by your business, then outsource some of the work to create some time and space for yourself and your family; take the pressure off. It will not cost you much financially to do this but what you will gain in terms of quality of life will make it well worthwhile. Internet marketing is not ‘easy money’ as some seem to think, it takes time effort and perseverance to succeed but it is a means to an end and not an end in itself. Remember why you chose to set up the business in the first place.
So, enjoy the spring; the fresh air; the flowers. Take time out each day to walk or cycle. Apart from the benefit you will feel physically and ‘spiritually’ it is a great time to think and plan. If you have an article or a sales letter to write, don’t just sit at your desk staring at a blank monitor screen (which seems to stare back at you in defiance), get out in the fresh air. I find that by the time I get back from such a walk I have sorted out a lot of what I am going to write and can sit at my desk and launch myself straight into it.
I hope that you can find the time in your busy schedule to enjoy the spring and get the full value from your business in terms of freedom and quality of life. Like Holst, let your business develop alongside the flowers and the vegetables.
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