It can be easy to get carried away with creating your business plan when building a lifestyle-focused business. After all, sometimes it feels like making money is the main goal in life. However, remember when you design your business, you are trying to create a lifestyle. Yes, money helps you build the lifestyle, but the lifestyle is more about experiences than it is about money.

Your business needs to allow you the freedom to work when you want to around your life, as well as generate the living you need for that lifestyle to be an actual lifestyle-oriented business. Because your business is not just about money. It’s about what you can do with your time while still providing for yourself and your family. After all, what is the point of life, to make money? I hope not.

But the fact is, money makes everything better, so of course you should design your business so that you earn enough money to live the lifestyle of your dreams. Nevertheless, income goals aren’t everything.

More Money is Not Equal to Happiness

Even though many people will be a lot happier with more money, if you’re not happy outside of your need for more money, having the money won’t suddenly make you happy. Yes, being able to go to the dentist without blinking after receiving the estimate is a great thing that makes many people happy. Yet, if you’re in a miserable relationship and have other issues, no amount of money is going to help.

More Time Equals More Creativity

One problem sometimes with making money is the time it takes from your real life. Making money isn’t really your real life. Spending time with your family, friends, and loved ones is real life. Bike riding on the trail or going on a hike in the mountains is real life. Taking your kids to the park for a beautiful afternoon and having a picnic without worry that you won’t be able to pay for those things is real freedom.

More Balance Improves Productivity

Something amazing happens when you design your life to consider your time freedom. You will become more creative. When you can be the idea person and then turn it over to your "team," the type of business you can build is truly unlimited. The sky is the limit.  

Life is Made to Enjoy What You Have

What’s the fun in having a huge house, several cars, and nice things if you have no time to enjoy them? If the only people getting to enjoy them are your kids and family, what’s the point? Sure, it’s nice to watch them enjoy it, no doubt. But your life is here for you to enjoy it - not to work for others 24/7.

Time Freedom Helps You Avoid Burnout

If you’ve ever worked a standard 40 hour a week job, you know that it’s entirely possible, even with a strict 40-hour workweek, to suffer burn out. It’s not even about the work. It’s really about the lack of balance in life. If you have nothing but work to look forward to, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and burn out.

Life is About More Than Making Money

Money is needed. But you probably don’t need as much as you think to enjoy the lifestyle you want to live. There are some people that have amazing, adventurous lives — and don’t have a lot of money. For some business owners, the perks of their services allow this. For example, there’s a travel blogger that lives a lavish lifestyle of travel that most people would not believe is real -- as a worldwide house and pet sitter. She loves her life and lives the life of her dreams without tons of money. As discussed in Day 1, the key is determining the lifestyle you want to live, and what your really care about and care to do.

Sure, money can really help you enjoy your life more because you’re not worried about how to get your child a cast after he or she breaks their leg, or how to help them get tutoring so they can master their college entrance exam, or that your house is in a safe neighborhood. So, don’t think money is evil. It’s not. Money is fabulous, but it’s not more important than your time once you can meet your necessities.