When I first started my business I was so excited to help clients. This meant I said yes to EVERYTHING. It came from a good place. I really wanted to help them. But over time I grew frustrated and resentful at those very same clients I had been so happy and eager to help.

And why is that? Well, when you always do what others want, it trickles into so many areas of your life (not just business) and can create a snowball effect. You will feel stuck, frustrated, and eventually burnt out.

Some things I did when doing what others wanted were:

• Being willing to learn pretty much anything a client wanted
• Taking last minute requests
• Lowering my rates due to a client’s budget

And what happened as a result:

• I was learning so many different things I sometimes made mistakes (like once crashing an entire website) or becoming mentally exhausted because I was learning many types of software and skills.
• Because I would take on last-minute requests, clients started to expect it. I was afraid to say no, and I was then working in the evening and weekends to get stuff done.
• And because I lowered rates, it was then hard to ever raise them with those clients, and I got resentful because I knew I should have either not worked with them to start with or refused to lower it and those that were the right clients would have been ok with my rates.

To be honest, if I told you ALL the things that happened as a result of my always putting others first, well, I would still be writing. But you get the idea. When I started my business, I thought I needed to put my clients first, and at first, it didn’t really impact things. But over time, it ended up taking a toll on my business and life.

Now for my tip! This exercise will work for business or life and help no matter what stage of business you are in.

I want you to make a non-negotiable list. This is a project I give my students when going through my VA Training.

Non-negotiables are essential because things won’t always go as planned and it’s great to have some flexibility in your business, but you definitely shouldn’t compromise on everything. Compromising on your non-negotiables leads to frustration and burnout. You don’t have to have a certain number of non-negotiables, but a few of mine are:

• Getting 8 hours of sleep per night
• Treating myself to a lunch break every day. I do not eat at my desk, and I give myself 30 minutes to recharge.
• I do not check or reply to client business emails after 6:00 p.m.
• I don’t do client work on the weekends.
• I don’t work in reactive mode, when EVERYTHING is an emergency or priority to the client. I only work in proactive mode.

Non-negotiables are completely based on your individual preferences. Consider your ideal schedule, family members, family, and personal needs when you list your non-negotiables. I’d love for you to send me an email and let me know what some of yours are that you come up with!