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ans Serif">Let's get one thing clear from the outset: Putting yourself first is not about being inconsiderate to others - so if you thought you were about to learn a neat way to rid yourself of all your difficult clients and customers, think again!

ans Serif">Putting yourself first is about making sure you run your business for you.

ans Serif">To start with we'll look at some of the classic symptoms of a business where such is not the case.

ans Serif" color="#008000">The business is in effect being run by clients or customers
ans Serif">Tell tale signs include situations where clients determine the hours worked; where no policies exist covering

'out of hours' contact; where holidays and weekends are cut short and, perhaps the biggest one, where the solopreneur is doing work she or he has no desire to do.

ans Serif">Of course there are exceptions to the above, situations where bending over backwards is absolutely needed. But what happens if you bend over backwards too much, too readily, too often? You'll fall over, you'll have a sore back and you'll not be happy.

ans Serif" color="#008000">There are constant interruptions and never enough time to work on the business
ans Serif">Sound familiar? Thought so. Common contributory factors are staff or suppliers wanting input on everything; family and friends barging in unannounced; a semingly constant bombardment of phone calls and emails.

ans Serif" color="#008000">You no longer like the business you loved
ans Serif">You loved it once didn't you? Back then when it seemed like such a great idea. Using all your favourite skills AND making an income. So what happened? A possible answer is you ceased putting yourself first.

ans Serif" color="#008000">Enough doom and gloom, let's look at some solutions.
ans Serif">Firstly, we need you to create a new vision, a new template, a new and believable picture of the future.

ans Serif">One of the best and simplest ways I know to do this is to write a 'letter from the future' and mail it to yourself. Make it detailed, make it exciting and keep it believable.

ans Serif">Imagining some time in the future (say 6 months or 12 months hence) write down how you're spending your days. Write at length on what work you're doing, the kind of people you have around you (clients, colleagues and friends) and most importantly, describe a business that avoids all the things that keep you from being in pole position.

ans Serif">To complete the picture, add in what's going outside your business (and if right now, nothing is going on, we should talk!). Be sure to include how you spend your recreation time, how your relationships and friendships are progressing, how you are feeling and the state of your health and fitness.

ans Serif">The trick with this is to write as much detail as possible, this is going to become your new business and life manifesto. Respect it!

ans Serif">Alongside this work, we need you to begin introducing and experimenting with some boundaries. Boundaries in this context are policies that will effect situations that presently do not work for you.