You might of heard me mention Alex Hormozi before?

He’s an Iranian-American entrepreneur and influencer with over 2.5 million Instagram followers.

Cleary, he’s doing something right!

And certainly, he’s provocative with his posts.

Here’s a recent example:

“It’s not imposter syndrome, you’re just not good enough yet.”

Hmmm. Stuff like that gets a massive eyeroll from me.

It diminishes the very real experience of millions of women who ARE good enough, but who are made to feel by society that they aren’t worth listening to.

But that’s the point, really – he’s a totally different person, with a totally different following and a totally different outlook.

Alex knows exactly what he is doing. 

He is deliberately publishing polarising ideas to create more shares, more discussion, more outrage, and more exposure for him.

It also refines his audience.

The people who stick with him love him and those who don’t – well, they can always follow someone else whose ideas chime with them.

Anyway, the reason I am bringing Alex Hormozi up is that every weekend he creates an Instagram post congratulating those of his followers who are working on a Saturday and Sunday.

They are the true winners. he declares. They are the ones who will succeed!

Now, as you might expect, I totally disagree with this, for reasons I’ll explain in a moment.

But his “are you working this weekend” posts DO highlight an important point that you need to be clear on. 

If you want to start your own home business, like creating your own course, you must ask yourself.

“WHY?”

It’s a simple question but one that a lot of people skip.

Why are you setting out on this journey? And what is it that you want to achieve at the end of it?

By that I don’t mean ‘money’ (although obviously that’s a big reason for most people).

I mean what is your ultimate goal in terms of your lifestyle, mental wellbeing and sense of fulfilment?

And how far will you go to achieve it?

Because not everyone wants the same thing, and not everyone wants to undergo the same process in order to get there.

For example, you might be a someone with no dependents who wants to be a multi-millionaire, with a big house, swimming pool and fancy car, and you’re prepared to work every hour available to get there.

In which case, your answer to the question, “Will you be working this weekend?” would be “yes! Absolutely!”

However, let’s imagine that what you are looking for – ultimately – is a better work-life balance, where you only work 3 or 4 days a week to earn the same money, and the rest of the time you can spend with your family.

In which case, your answer to the question, “Will you be working this weekend?” would (ideally) be “no”…or certainly not always working weekends.

Or perhaps your aim is to double your income from a 9-5 by adding a home income stream, so that you can buy a new house, or pay off a mortgage.

Well, in which case, your answer to the question, “Will you be working this weekend?” would be “yes, until I get to my goal, after which it will be no.”

Perhaps you dream of becoming a musician, painter or writer, in which case, all you want from a digital course is more free time and head-space.

Perhaps you have an illness or condition that makes you tired or depressed, in which case you want a passive income to come in when you cannot work.

They key is to KNOW exactly what you want and exactly what you need.

Then ask yourself, what is it that you are prepared to sacrifice to get there, and what is it that you are NOT prepared to sacrifice to get there.

For example, course creation could deliver that (semi) passive income which could either double your income OR free up more of your time for other things.

But it may be that to get there, you’ll have to work harder in the short term.

For instance, you might have to sacrifice some evenings or weekends to get things moving.

However, it’s important to know what your ultimate destination will look like in terms of your life-work balance.

Take me, for example…

The Reason I Don’t Work on Weekends (Anymore!)

In my time I have worked many weekends, and many evenings.

In fact, when I was first launching Canonbury, my son was a newborn baby who never slept, so I worked all kinds of hours, whenever I had a moment free.

It was necessary in those early stages to put in that super effort, even when I was half-crazed by a lack of sleep.

But now working all day every day is NOT something I am prepared to do.

I want to spend that precious time with my family because – for me – that’s what the whole aim of running my own business was in the first place.

Sure, I could be more like Alex Hormozi and work every weekend – and I’d make a lot more money, too.

But why would I need to do that?

When Nick and I set out to start a business, I wanted to be able to send my kids to the best schools (after my own experience hadn’t been great), live in a beautiful central London house, and go on plenty of holidays together.

Which is what we achieved.

So why would I sacrifice my time with my husband and kids to work more for more money at their expense?

In my view, there’s no great achievement in working hard for the sake of working hard.

And I don’t see why you need to put your life on hold permanently in order to make money, or continually hit goals that aren’t necessary to your happiness.

Naturally, you will have different circumstances and different priorities.

But please make sure you decide what they are!

It will really help you focus on what’s important and necessary!