| My phone started buzzing in the San Francisco airport. “Craig, I just heard you speak at the financial advisor’s event,” the man on the other end said. "I need to hire you, like yesterday!” “Hey, great, but let’s slow down,” I replied. “Let’s start with your name and how I can help.” “My name’s Blair. I run a financial advisory firm with 25 employees, and I have a big goal.” “Oh great, what’s that? You want to double your income? Get more clients? Become more productive? Write a book? I can help you with all of those,” I said. “No, it’s something a LOT more important,” Blair replied. “I want to take every Friday off.” Whoa. That was a new one. But I was up for the challenge. You see, I believe in an unconventional concept called work-life mastery, not the traditional, ineffective approach of work-life balance. Work-life balance implies an equal weighting among work, sleep, and "home time." It suggests that every day must rigidly look the same because—heaven forbid—you get out of balance, as though imbalance were a cardinal sin. Work-life balance is so boring. Besides, who among the legends of history and those with a life of legacy ever had balance? Martin Luther King Jr.? Winston Churchill? Oprah? Your favorite president? The solution to an unfulfilled life chasing work-life balance is to take ownership of your time so that you achieve your big goals and dreams. For me, it’s writing books that make a massive impact, like "The Perfect Day Formula," all while traveling to five new countries every year. For Blair, it was growing his company while still taking every Friday off for extra family time (he takes weekends off, too). “Craig,” Blair told me, “I love my job, but I want to spend more time with my family. Is there any way I could rework my schedule and take Fridays off without getting behind?” “You bet,” I said, “but right now you’re looking at your schedule all wrong. You’re thinking work comes first, and then you have to fit your personal life around it. But what’s your #1 priority? Your family. So start there, and fit your business around your life rather than your life around your business.” The lesson, ultimately, was this: Every high-achieving entrepreneur needs to recognize that they have control over their schedules, not the other way around. In fact, everyone does. Even when I was a salaried employee straight out of college, I still controlled 16 hours of my day. It was up to me to make the best use of that time, to master my work and life, rather than settling for balance. This mental shift is not easy for people to make; you love your work, and have a hard time separating personal and professional time. That’s why I walk my clients through a simple goal-setting and scheduling session so that each of them can get clarity on what’s most important. Read on at earlytorise.com: The 5 steps to work-life mastery... | 