Just pack it all in, and get a job…

Some days you want to pack it all in and just get a job. 

(If you're carrying ownership responsibility as well as leadership, keep reading).

How often does that idea cross your mind?

A few times a year?
At least once a month?
Once a week? 
(If it's weekly...we probably need to talk. Like, now.)

You consider it for a moment, then realise that being an employee will cause way more problems for you than it solves.

A fixed rota, so you have more predictability, more consistency.
"Oh great - I can make plans. Finally go to that yoga class every Tuesday night."

But then you realise you can't just take yourself off the rota, or leave for the afternoon when your family need you. 
"Actually, no, I'd feel like a prisoner."

Following a set of someone else's clear rules and standards, so you're not making 159,473 decisions for other people every day.
"Gosh, this would give me sooo much more mental space. Sounds dreamy!"

But then you remember you'd be bored out of your mind, because you actually get a buzz from improving your practice, spotting opportunities, shaping how things are done.
"Actually, I can almost feel my brain cells dying from underuse."

A fixed salary. 
"Great. Predictable. I'd know where I stand."

But then...what are you building? What's the legacy for your family? 
"Actually, I started this for a reason. And while it's hard, it's securing my future."

Clocking off and mentally checking out when the day is done. 
"Yes! Oh, that feeling of walking out of the door after my shift has ended. Complete freedom. My time is my own."

But that's not really who you are, is it?  

So you tell yourself, "ah ok, maybe I don’t have it that bad after all".

And then you look back at your business and realise:
You don’t actually have much in the way of freedom. 

• You’re always there – first one in, last one out, stepping in when someone is off sick. Again.
• Taking your laptop on holiday “just in case”.
• Mentally pre-empting complaints, difficult conversations, and what might go wrong tomorrow.
• Running through staffing scenarios and team dramas at 3am.
• Feeling a spike of anxiety every time your phone buzzes, even on your day off.

So then the thought changes to: "Ugh, ok, I just want to take a few months off."

But you can't. 

You can barely take a long weekend without a ridiculous amount of planning, followed by guilt or dread. 

And now you're stuck... 

Here's what you need to know my friend ⬇️⬇️

• Physical distance from the business would help, yes - but realistically it's probably not happening. 
• Structural changes in your business matter. But something else needs to change for them to give you the relief you expect.
• You don't need to punish yourself for caring too much. The answer isn't to care less either.
• You don't need to be less invested, or less obsessed with your business. That's part of who you are, and why you built the practice in the first place.
• The problem isn't how much the business means to you, it's about how all-consuming it has become. 

What you actually need is emotional distance. 

Consider the possibility, just for a moment, that there is a different way of relating to the business. 
One where not every problem feels like your mind and body is under attack.
Where being needed doesn’t automatically mean sacrificing your own needs. 
Where your internal peace-o-meter doesn’t hit “empty” every time something goes wrong.

(Let me guess – when you read that, part of you believes it’s possible for you.
And then there’s another part that says absolutely no chance in hell. Not the way things are at the moment).

And that’s exactly why time off won’t fix this. 

The freedom you’re looking for isn’t on the other side of time off.
It’s on the other side of facing what you’ve been avoiding – your thoughts, your emotional patterns, and how you carry the business inside you.