Leanne once told me she'd rather I just didn't do it.
The business, I mean.
At the time, I was working two or three jobs.
I'd get home and open the laptop.
Weekends I'd get up, run a bootcamp, pack everything away, get home and suddenly it was one o'clock.
Then I'd probably open the laptop again.
There was always something to do.
And in my head, there was a very noble reason for all of it.
I was doing it for us.
For Leanne.
For the kids.
For our future.
Except there was a slight problem.
They were starting to piss me off.
The kids would need something while I was working and I'd get frustrated.
Leanne would want us to go and do something and I'd be thinking about everything I hadn't finished.
A family day started to feel like time I was losing.
And I remember her basically saying,
I'd rather you just didn't do it.
I'd rather you were here.
Because this thing that was supposedly going to give us a better life one day was currently taking me out of the one we already had.
And the really fucking annoying part?
I wasn't even making any money.
I wasn't navigating some enormous period of growth.
I wasn't making enough offers.
I wasn't selling enough.
I wasn't talking about what I did enough.
I was scared.
So I spent an incredible amount of time doing things that felt like work.
Planning.
Changing things.
Thinking.
Sitting behind a laptop.
Convincing myself I needed more time.
And the people I wanted the time for started to feel like the people taking it from me.
That's quite hard to write.
It's why I coach the way I do.
A couple of people I've worked with have said some version of...
Sometimes it feels like you care more about me than my business.
I do.
But not because I don't care about the business.
I care about the business because of what it can make possible for you.
I want my clients making amounts of money they once thought sounded ridiculous.
I want them making offers.
Selling.
Taking risks.
Doing things that scare them.
Seeing what they're actually capable of.
But there's a human being building the thing.
And that human being has a life.
That's the bit I don't want us to lose.
Because sometimes you do need to work harder.
Sometimes the uncomfortable thing you've been avoiding needs doing.
Sometimes getting to the next level will ask something completely different of you.
And sometimes you'll decide you don't actually want the next level.
You get to decide.
That's why some of the results that excite me most aren't just numbers.
It's the first £5k month.
And hopefully the £20k and £50k months too.
But it's also taking the weekend off.
Doing the school run.
Standing on a stage you never thought you'd have the confidence to stand on.
Holding the event you thought nobody would come to.
Buying something without checking the bank first.
Having a random Tuesday afternoon to yourself and realising..
BLOODY HELL. I couldn't have done this a few years ago.
Because I don't think you build a successful business so that one day you've finally earned permission to enjoy your life.
The business should make more of your life possible.
That's what I want for the people I work with.
More of whatever matters to you.
So CREATE the thing.
Sell your shit.
Be ambitious.
See how far you can take it.
Just every now and again, look up from the laptop and make sure it's still taking you somewhere you actually want to go.
Ben x
I’m Ben, founder of The Quiet Wealth Club.
I’ve been coaching people for a long time now, and I’ve always loved working with business owners.
