So you’re ambitious, running a successful business, and still have a-million-and-one ideas you want to achieve. But the thing holding you back? Lack of clarity around next steps and how to actually get closer to your goals without falling victim to “busy,” spending all day working but without making real progress. Sound familiar?

I get you. Optimizing your time, effort, energy, and business to scale with intention and ease isn’t that hard. And I’m going to show you how with my simple 3-Step Framework to design a life and business on your terms. Be the owner of your time, run a successful and sustainable business, all while prioritizing your health and wellbeing.

1. Reconnect to your goals + values

Oftentimes we operate in ways that support other people’s expectations or that no longer support our own goals and values.

Struggling to make it up a mountain that you realize wasn’t yours to climb can waste a lot of time and energy.

So, check in with yourself often. Are your current thoughts, actions, and habits supporting the way you want to live? The business you want to build? The habits you want to cultivate and stay consistent with? Be very specific with this! Saying “I’ll just work until I have X dollars and then I do what I want," won’t get you anywhere because it’s not specific enough. If you don’t define what it is you want, you'll keep getting stuck because you don’t have your goals defined. How much money do you need to live and fulfill your dreams? What is it you specifically want to do?

Our brains are designed to keep us safe and preserve energy which is why it’s hard to change our routines. That’s also why we spend a lot of time in autopilot mode.

By reconnecting to your priorities and goals, you get to take back the power and realign your actions to match your desired outcome.

Here's a few journal prompts to help get you started:

• What are your values, goals, and desired priorities?

• What makes a day a “good day” for you?

• What feels important to you in life?

• Is what you're doing day-to-day aligned with where you want to go? Does it support you in who you want to become or how you want to feel?

• Who are you doing this for?

This is the first step in creating a life and business on your terms.

2. Shift your identity

If you’re dreaming of finally picking up hip hop lessons or starting that vegetable garden you dreamed of when first starting your business, but never have enough time and push to the bottom of your to-do list in favor of work, you probably self-sabotage the time available to you without even knowing it.

Is your default answer to anything: “I don’t have time” or “I can’t, I’m too busy”?

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Here’s the thing: If you constantly repeat these types of phrases to yourself, you’re going to start believing them and act in a way that sacrifices the time available to you. Because you fill your calendar with commitments you don’t actually have capacity for, thus, limiting the time available to you and proving that you never have time.

Instead, pay close attention to your words and try to reframe your default thoughts. For example: “I never have time” -> “Time is abundant to me.”

With every new commitment or task coming your way, ask yourself: Do I have the time, attention, and energy for this? Do I actually want to be doing this? Is this a hell yes? If the answer is no to any of these questions, don’t do it.

You might feel like you are letting people down, but respecting your own boundaries is the highest form of self-care you can practice. And it's incredibly liberating.

Which brings me to the next point:

3. Make yourself and your goals a non-negotiable priority

Nothing is going to change if you or your actions don’t change. If you want something you currently don’t have, you need to reshuffle your priorities.

Want to become healthier and go to the gym 3 times a week? Can you start by just 15 minutes of an at-home workout today?

Want to read more books? Can you start by committing to reading 10 pages per day?

You need to make the things that are important to you a priority. As simple as that. And remember that you started this business to make time for things your corporate job never left enough time for. So remind yourself that taking care of yourself FIRST allows you to show up as a better business owner, friend, partner, etc.

It all starts with you.

If you struggle with holding yourself accountable or you start the day with the best intentions only for one small thing to derail it, try to proactively schedule me-time and the things that are important to you into your calendar before any other meetings, commitments, etc. That way you’re staying committed and getting it done rather than pushing it to the end of the workday but then feeling too tired and pushing it to tomorrow (and 5 months pass and you’re still in the same situation, frustrated with your lack of progress).

So instead of saying “I’ll start tomorrow,” can you start today by outlining things you want to do more of? Tasks you might want to outsource to free up time? Passion projects to schedule into your calendar? Sending out updated office hours to your client lists? Setting up an auto-email response that sets expectations around your availability?

One of the biggest things that has made a difference in finding clarity, working towards projects that are in alignment with my goals, and making time for myself is taking 15-30 minutes each night to tidy up my office space (and anything else that seems distracting and disorganized) and write my to-do list for the next day, complete with an intention.

That way I can get to work the next day without getting distracted by clutter or trying to mentally organize all to-do’s that are floating around between different projects.

Designing a life and business on your own terms is possible and easier to achieve than you might think. You just need commitment and consistency, and to drop the excuses that you’ll start tomorrow.

Remember: Busy isn’t a badge of honor. And change doesn’t require you to carve out hours of your time.

You can change your life, starting today, in just a few minutes by implementing daily habits that support the life you want to live and the business you want to run.