Meaningful Connections

What are you doing to build meaningful connections in your life?

Last year I had the opportunity to coach a client that was at the top of his game.  He sat across from me in my office, comfortable, confident and excited about all his recent professional achievements.  He was ecstatic that for the first time in many years, he felt in control of his life.  His business was booming, and he was making more money than he had ever made.  But something was still missing.  He wasn't quite sure what that may be, but he felt as if his home life was suffering.  I could see the pain in his face as He described the fights that he and his wife had been fighting over trivial things.  He shared that he didn't think she was supportive of his recent successes. Unfortunately, this wasn't the first time that had occurred in his marriage.  In a previous career, the same thing had happened.  He excelled professionally, while his personal relationships were crumbling.  That was the moment that I asked the question that changed his life.  "What good are all of these professional achievements, if you don't have anyone around to enjoy them with?"

While that question may seem a bit harsh, it was what he needed to hear.  It's also the question that so many of us need reminded of when building a small business.  It's easy for us all to lose sight of WHY we decided to go into business in the beginning.  For myself and many others, it was to achieve a level of personal freedom in our lives that we found difficult to find in the traditional corporate setting.  We long to spend more time with family and friends, make it to every one of our kids sporting events and travel to far off destinations.  However, somewhere along the way, that vision disappears into the day to day chaos and we instead become slaves to the business.

To make sure you maintain the meaningful connections in your life, I have four big ideas for you.

1. Schedule Your Personal Time - So many of us are fantastic at blocking time in our days for our professional tasks, but when it comes to our personal priorities, we leave it to chance.  Whether it's a date night with your wife, or taking the kids to the park, put your personal events on your calendar.  What gets scheduled gets done!
2. Leave Work at Work - For entrepreneurs, it can be hard to turn off our brains, but if you want more meaningful connections, you must learn to compartmentalize.  This doesn't mean that you're never going to need to finish a project in the evening, but be intentional about it.  Don't sacrifice your relationships for a task that can wait until tomorrow.
3. Be Completely Present - The strongest relationships are developed by truly being present for the person sitting across from you.  This means, put down the phone, quit doom scrolling, and quit mindlessly staring at the TV.  Too many of us are in the room physically, but our minds are somewhere else completely.  
4. Be Interested NOT Interesting - If you're really looking to build deep meaningful conversations, it begins with showing authentic interest in the other person.  When was the last time, you asked your friends or family about their hopes and dreams?  What are the largest challenges they are facing? Showing interest will break through to a conversation level that most of us rarely experience today.

Building meaningful connections in our lives is one of the most fundamental drives of all humans.  We all desire to feel the love and fulfillment that comes from those deep connections.  So, if you are thriving in your professional life, but feel as if something is missing on the personal front, this is a great place to begin. These ideas have had a major impact on my personal relationships so hopefully, they will do the same for you.  Implementing them can take a bit of practice, but I promise, it will all be worth it!