Happy Monday, 

With July 4th right around the corner and how crazy the world feels right now... 

I've been thinking a lot about freedom. 

And I don't just mean financial.

But "whole life" freedom. 

Personal, emotional, mental, and physical. 

Freedom from guilt... 

Freedom overwork...

Freedom from comparison... 

Freedom from health struggles... 

And yes, freedom from worrying about money... 

Because over the past few years I've started to notice a somewhat disturbing trend in the entrepreneur/high-performer culture. 

For all the talk about "freedom" and "independence" and living on "their own terms". 

...The average entrepreneur is probably one of the least free people you'll ever meet. 

They're chronically overworked...

Their weekends and vacations are filled with guilt for all of the time they're "wasting"...

They wake up and go to sleep with crushing anxiety from trying to do too much... 

And worst of all... no matter how high they climb or what they achieve... 

... It's never enough.

I know because this used to be me...

And at one point or another, it's been every mentor, client, and business-owning friend I know. 

But there are two often overlooked "secrets" I share in my book The Perfect Week Formula that can help.

Secret #1: Build Your Work Around Your Life 

Each Sunday when you're planning your weeks... 

Before you write down a single meeting, appointment, deep work block, or sales call... 

...Schedule out your non-negotiable non-work activities. 

Things like date night, workouts, massages, dinners with your family, hikes with friends, and leisure time. 

I know this seems a little counterintuive.

But when you start your planning with your "personal" week already scheduled... 

...It forces you to ruthlessly eliminate, delegate, and automate EVERYTHING from your schedule that you don't need to do. 

If you only have 35 hours a week to work on your business... 

...You aren't going to waste them on busy work and trivial tasks. 

You'll be forced to focus only on the "profit levers" that really matter. 

And just as importantly... 

Getting accountable to non-negotiable committments creates hard bumpers and boundaries in your daily life that force you to level up your focus, productivity, and discipline. 

If you know you have date night at 6pm... 

Getting distracted on social media and wasting 2 hours of productive time simply isn't an option. 

Like I said in my email yesterday... 

Too many entrepreneurs forget to prioritize fun and recovery. 

And when this goes on for long enough it can wreck havok in their health, family, and business. 

By scheduling your non-work activities FIRST... 

You'll force yourself to build your business around your life instead of building your life around your business. 

​Secret #2: Shake Up Your Days and Frontload Like Crazy

Last week while I was leading a Zoom training for a friend's mastermind... 

...One of the attendees shared how he was tired of feeling guilty every weekend because he couldn't shut off "work mode" and get present for his family. 

After talking with him for a few minutes (and finding out that he has three children and a wife who also works from home), I realized the problem. 

He'd fallen into the common productivity trap of believing that "Every day needs to be the same." 

This might work for your average 9-5 employee who does the same thing day in and day out. 

But as an entrepreneur... 

You're juggling dozens of balls all at the same time (no matter how good you are at delegating). 

And your planning strategies need to reflect this. 

One of the best tactics I've found for creating more freedom while getting more done... 

...Is to designate specific days to specific types of work. 

For example... 

You might do all of your leadership/team meetings on Mondays... 

Marketing and copywriting on Tuesdays... 

Sales on Wednesdays... 

Strategizing on Thursdays... 

And so on. 

This allows you to get into deeper states of flow and accomplish far more than you would if you had to switch you attention between writing copy, recording a podcast, leading a meeting, and having a sales call all on the same day. 

And an important addition to this secret is to front load the most important and difficult work early in the week. 

That way, when you get to the weekend... 

You won't be plagued by guilt and frustration for leaving an important project unfinished (for the fourth week in a row). 

If your most important tasks are all done by Wednesday... 

You can roll with the inevitable "end of the week slump" instead of feeling crushed by it. 

Try these strategies out for yourself this week and let me know how they work for you. 

To Your Success, 
Craig