“I just don’t get it! I’m putting all my time and energy into this business, and I’m still scraping by. I’m so tired of fighting to ‘just to make it’ but this is what I really want to do.”

“Tell me about what’s happening in your life,” I inquired.

“My wife says I’m spending too much time working, and I know she’s right. But I also know that I’m one who is responsible for paying most of bills. As it is, I’m probably working 80 hours a week.”

“I really want to spend more time with her and our son, but if we’re barely making it now, I can’t imagine what would happen if I slowed down. I’d lose business for sure. What I need is more time, not less.”

Oh, it was terrible to hear Mark experiencing such pain. It brought back all of feelings I had also experienced during first years of my business several years earlier.

He had fallen into same trap that many of us do. He believed that his degree of business success was directly related to number of hours he put in. And, I knew, that until we altered that belief, he would never be free to achieve great financial success and to enjoy freedom that life of a business owner can provide.

Somewhere along way, many of us pick up perceived connection between time and results. Yes, it’s true that if you spend 10 hours a day practicing piano that you will likely be a better performer than if you spend 5 minutes a day. And that same logic might apply to specific skills you use in your business. If you spend 4 hours every day doing anything (creating graphic designs, writing press releases, writing sales letters), you will undoubtedly develop your skills.

But, in an endeavor like business, success is based on much more than total amount of time you put in. It’s based on what you do during that time, what skills you have, what customers want, how you present yourself, what you charge, how you market your business, etc.

Some things in life are easy …

Staying Thin = Eating Well + Exercising Baking Cookies = Measuring Ingredients + Following Directions

The stinker part about running a business is that you get out what you put in. And, it’s not easy to figure out what monster wants to eat – but that’s your job as a business owner.

If you spend countless hours networking at events that don’t yield results, you are adding time to your week. If you re-create wheel every time you have to put a proposal together, you are taking up time that you could be spending on other marketing activities, taking a lunch break, spending afternoon with your spouse and kids. If you are starting numerous projects without bringing any of them to completion, you are wasting time spinning your wheels rather than profiting from one of those great ideas.

Paddi Lund, an Australian dentist, working 60 hours a week, was close to suicide. He made a decision that profoundly changed his life and his success. He decided to focus his practice on happiness.

Paddi took a chainsaw to his reception desk and replaced it with a coffee bar. His patients are now served their choice from a large selection of coffees and teas. He installed a large kitchen and clients are met with smell of baking bread instead of those dental smells we all know so well.

He took a chainsaw mentality to his client list, too. He fired many of them, keeping only those that met his ideal customer profile.

Paddi also instituted a Courtesy System so that everyone in his office -- both clients and employees -- is treated well. See Courtesy System here: http://www.uksmiles.co.uk/courtesy.htm The System includes simple but effective guidelines, such as: “When you talk about a person who is not present, speak as if they are listening to your conversation.”

He made many other changes to bring happiness to his business. Read about them in his book Build Happiness Centered Business. The book’s subtitle is: How you can find happiness in your business and reap all rewards it brings, including increased profits, by following in footsteps of a crazy dentist.

CRAZY?