A few years of no life

That is typical across this industry, unless you inherit it all.

Yes, but the hours start to tail off a bit after you have a large database of prospects established.  One thing I have found (being married with kids), was that I learned to manage my hours better than I could in the “corproate” world.  For example, most days I would spend prospecting, calling, appts, etc.  I would see my kids for a few hours in the evening, then after they went to bed, do all my admin work at night.  Now, I may end up working 8am-6pm, then work again from 8pm-11pm.  This was hard, but much easier than the result of not seeing the family at all.  Yes, not having family makes the job easier in the beginning, but life happens.  You do have to learn to balance the two.  It may take a bit longer, but blowing your family life isn’t worth any job.  However, with a supportive spouse, you should be able to manage long hours during limited stretches.  Even after 3 years or so, I am still out of the house 2 to 3 nights per week.  But I try to make up for it by coming home for lunch a few days a week, and giving my family undivided attention when I’m home.

My wife and kids are involved in so much stuff anyways it doesn’t really make a difference…

It is typical for the first five years or more. For me it was seven years.

BG,  

Having a young child, a pregnant wife without a pot to pee in, was the quintessential motivator.

I do agree with Gaddock, that having what others would consider “insane motivators” can really cause you to ramp up your business because without it you don’t have a choice.

What’s the point of having no life?  What happens when one builds a business, any business, something must give because long hours are a must.  There was no way in hell that I was going to give up things like taking off of work when we had babies and teaching my kids to ride bikes and spending time with my wife. 

ice - my skills lie more in the Gran Turismo arena.  Where does that put me?

[quote=anonymous]What’s the point of having no life?  What happens when one builds a business, any business, something must give because long hours are a must.  There was no way in hell that I was going to give up things like taking off of work when we had babies and teaching my kids to ride bikes and spending time with my wife. 

You know what?? I freaking love trading and taking money from fools!! I never stop fixating on how to fleece the ignorant.

No life??????????

I LOVE MY CAREER WITH A PASSION!!!!

Even in my prospecting days, I refused to work past 5pm.  I have kids at home, and they won’t be this young again.  Yes, it’s been much slower (and probably less lucrative) than most, but I don’t care.  If it doesn’t work, I’ll go find a 9 to 5 job elsewhere.  This is only a job, folks.  No one ever said on their deathbed, “I wish I put in more hours at the office.”

Even in my prospecting days, I refused to work past 5pm.  I have kids at home, and they won’t be this young again.  Yes, it’s been much slower (and probably less lucrative) than most, but I don’t care.  If it doesn’t work, I’ll go find a 9 to 5 job elsewhere.  This is only a job, folks.  No one ever said on their deathbed, “I wish I put in more hours at the office.”

[quote=SayNo2KoolAid]Even in my prospecting days, I refused to work past 5pm.  I have kids at home, and they won’t be this young again.  Yes, it’s been much slower (and probably less lucrative) than most, but I don’t care.  If it doesn’t work, I’ll go find a 9 to 5 job elsewhere.  This is only a job, folks.  No one ever said on their deathbed, “I wish I put in more hours at the office.”

Good to hear what anonymous said. Nice to hear my decision reinforced by someone I respect. Me, I gave up golf, movies, watching television, hanging out with my friends. I work and spend time with family.
I have a rule, too, that if your family needs you, you have to be there.  Your wife will accept the 12-hour days if she knows you will take a couple of hours and show up for the kindergarten play.

Define what life means and how you use the time you have. 12 hours a day isn’t too much if you make the hours you aren’t working matter.

 "Your wife will accept the 12-hour days if she knows you will take a couple of hours and show up for the kindergarten play."

Before I joined the workforce, I can remember describing my ideal job.  I was looking for four things:

We can play semantic games with job/career/profession all we want.  12 hour days?  Unless I am only going to sleep 3 hours a night, that's not enough time for my family AND FRIENDS (I'm not giving them up, either).  If I worked 12 hour days, I'd see my kids for about an hour before they went to bed.  No thanks.

And personally, I do think this is a pretty easy way to make a living.  It's all in the way you approach it.  I DO make a difference, make more money than I need, and have more freedom than I ever thought I would have.

And there are guys who go the “no life route” and never take the foot off the gas because they don’t know how. They become addicted to the job/money and become irrelevant members of their own family. I have no interest in that.

What I’m talking about isn’t semantics.  I didn’t call it a career or a profession.  I called it a business.  I’m talking about the difference between an employer’s mindset and an employee’s mindset.  I believe that the most successful people in our field treat their practice as a business.    Thinking as a business owner instead of as an employee allows them to ultimately maximize their revenue.   This does not necessarily mean that they have to work more hours.

I absolutely treat my job as a business.  I’m just more concerned with maximizing my personal life rather than “maximizing my revenue.”  Work is just something I do so can do the things I really enjoy.  I’ve simply been around too long and have seen too many lives & families destroyed becuase of the desire to maximize revenue/take your business to the bext level/insert tired cliche here.

If you are treating the job as a business, you have an employer's mindset and will do (are doing) very well.  

It's not just an unlimited maximizing of one's revenue.  That simply creates someone who works all of the time.  It's about maximizing one's revenue in the framework of their life.   For you, it sounds like no 12 hour days.  For me, it means doing whatever is necessary and working as long as is necessary.  However, my calendar starts with personal family time.   This means that if someone wants to see me Friday night at 6:00, it won't happen.  My calendar is booked with family.

I think that we are on the same page with this.

Man, I love this job! It’s a cross between fishing and a strategy video game. I love being able to effortlessly take the less prepared/fortunate opponents money. Your imagination has no boundary with infinite ways to win. Once you have an edge with a discipline, well, I have an absolute blast. Several of my better clients are truly partners. We all look at the same info that my software finds and find the best setups. More often than not when my clients are with me at the office we laugh until our ribs hurt as we take money from, lets say, the less informed :).