This past few weeks (months) have kicked my ass.  Work has been busy. Life has been busy.  Busy, busy, busy.

It hasn’t been chaotic though, not yet.  There has been no overwhelming moments of panic, or nights when I couldn’t fall asleep because my brain was on fire.  We have eaten meals, kept the animals cared and loved, and had moments where we have embraced the down time.

But still… it has been busy.

Last year at this time I was still in “start up mode”.  Excitedly responding to any query, passionately quoting projects and desperately waiting for a response.

This year, since the start of the year in fact, I have felt my business move OUT of start up, and into something else.  Something stable.

As a business owner I have NEVER been in this position in my life.  I used to define myself as a serial entrepreneur, start up after start up. Taking stabs at new ideas as if I was a starving man at a buffet, desperate that one of these fatty, high carb items would fill me up and give me the nutrition I need to sustain life.

Now in my business, it is more about making choices.  It is choosing what to accept, and what to offer. It is picking the best clients, the ones I want, not the need.  It is fine dining, on healthy, farm fresh food.

And yet, I feel another progression coming up.  There are lists of things I still want to try, opportunities I want to take, but my days are filled right now.  I am full.

I need to make some more room so I can continue to grow, and still balance life.  So I can try new things at work, and still spend a sunny day in the meadow.

See, once you have moved past start up mode, it is really hard to go back to it.  To the late nights and chaotic responses. The bursting with ideas. The all consuming creativity.

Like a marriage, a business grows with you.  After a few years the flutters will be gone, but you will appreciate the stability and constant support more than the butterflies of first kisses.

And also, like a marriage, if you rely too heavily on that routine, you will lose the magic and the spark that brought you together in the first place.

It’s time to shake things up…. plan a date night with my business and romance it a little.  Reignite the magic..