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Key Takeaways
- Personal plans are often the last type of plan a business owner considers, if at all.
- Millennials value work-life balance, and starting with a personalized plan can help you achieve this.
- Personal planning can add to the value of your business by identifying the source of your professional satisfaction.
Here’s what I know now: My personal purpose is to create unique opportunities for the people in my life. Whether it’s my colleagues, my friends or especially my family, I get the most satisfaction from seeing them experience something new – something that will become a core memory in their life or career.
And yet there I was, a young entrepreneur, standing in a snowy parking lot on Christmas Eve.
As a millennial, I did what I thought I had to do. Like most of my generation, I earn to spend. That’s part of what led to me plowing snow in a commercial parking lot on Christmas Eve. With my name on the side of the truck, I didn’t really have a vision of how much would ever be enough – especially since my plans were dreams and bigger than I ever thought possible.
And along with being a millennial, you’re following in the footsteps of baby boomer parents: parents who preached hard work in your first company would result in personal fulfillment in your last company.
But as I drove the truck from the parking lot through the lonely streets to a quiet home—a home that only hours earlier held the core memories I so desperately wanted to create for those I loved—I was unfulfilled.
I felt miserable.
Related: Your Company’s Culture Isn’t ‘Right’ – Here’s How to Stop Avoiding the Problem and Start Solving It
Personal planning must come first
People are drawn to entrepreneurship for all kinds of reasons. However, the only right reasons are the ones related to your personal goal.
That’s why personal planning – not financial, not business – must come first.
And yet most people do it all in reverse, just like the ride I chose time and time again as I cleared that powdery parking lot.
When you are reading EntrepreneurI probably don’t need to tell you that it’s easy to dive deep into your business operations. In the early stages of a business, you have a hand in everything, and it’s easy to become like the Walking Dead, just plodding along until another problem arises that only you can solve.
But if that’s how you look at your business, I have a warning: weeks turn into months and months turn into years. Soon you’ll look around and wonder why you’re even motivated to do this work, even if your business is booming.
Related: How to Know When It’s Time to Sell Your Business – Before It’s Too Late
What Millennial Entrepreneurs Value
We have big plans for our lives. We must honor that, but also that last word: lives, keep a close eye on them.
That’s because we also value meaningful work, and that meaning will change throughout our lives. For W-2 workers, that has led to a reputation for having held many jobs throughout their lives, with 21% of millennials changing jobs by 2024, according to Gallup.
We are also ambitious. I’ve seen that in the data that my organization – the Exit Planning Institute – collected in the United States National Owner Readiness Report. Our generation led all others in exceeding $100 million in annual revenue, measuring and tracking business value, and seeking business advice.
Our generation of entrepreneurs will also stay with one company for less time than our predecessors. 48% of millennials plan to switch in the next five years. Part of the reason for this, I think, is that we are less likely to want the 60-80 hour work week that our baby boomer parents sold us. We want a balance between work and private life. We have seen the regrets of previous generations who did not prioritize this.
Related: How to Succeed as a Millennial Entrepreneur
Your first STEPS towards a personal plan
A personal plan should not get in the way of your current business. In fact, the best personal plans help you develop your relationship with your business: finding harmony, creating value and leading to a happier life.
But you can’t start a personal plan without knowing your personal goal.
This is how you take your first steps: the STEP exercise. Take a weekend and complete it. It includes:
- Spiritual: What drives your relationship with a higher power or your spirituality?
- Things: What things in your life help you achieve your personal goal? What things do you desire?
- Experiences: What experiences ring your joy bell?
- People: Who are the people who are most meaningful in your life?
The exercise asks you to think about these four facets of your personal life and helps you achieve them while creating a plan to keep working toward the life you want.
Related: Every Business Owner Needs an Exit Plan—It’s Time You Develop Yours.
Keep planning personal plans
Note that I don’t call personal plans dreams. Dreams are something for later, something that you may never achieve.
It is time to start living out your personal plan now. Your business will be better for it: You’ll identify areas of your work that don’t bring you joy and build an infrastructure to delegate those tasks to someone who may get more satisfaction from them than you do.
Once you discover your personal purpose, it’s time to make it a reality, just like any other business plan. Work on:
- A vision for 10 years: Ten years from now, how will your life have brought you closer to your personal purpose, both at work and at home?
- A three-year strategy: What’s the first big step toward realizing that vision?
- A goal for a year: What does measurable progress towards your strategy look like?
- 90 Day Sprints: What action items are needed over the next 90 days to help you achieve your one-year goal?
Related: Want to achieve your goals but don’t know where to start? Try these proven goal-setting strategies.
Empowerment is empowerment
Few leaders have more power at work than those who feel progress toward their personal goals and can fulfill their personal purpose in all facets of their lives.
Personal plans are not about activities. Golf gets boring. There are only so many fish to catch. Personal plans are about fulfillment: noticing when you are happiest and asking yourself why the scenario makes you happy. And then: how that fulfillment is scalable to all areas of your life.
These are undoubtedly difficult questions. And it takes more than a little introspection and a lot of activation, both at home and at work.
Fortunately, you don’t have to do this alone. If you’re not sure where to start or need guidance in creating a personalized plan that fits well with your business plans, find a Certified Exit Planning Advisor can help.
A thriving business starts with a clear sense of personal purpose. This promotes joy and meaningful connections in both your personal and professional journey.