How to Make a Life-First Business Actually Work
Melissa, here.
You might already know this about me, but maybe not.
A long time ago, before I had this business, or the one before it, I was a high school English teacher and I thought I’d landed in the best job in the whole wide world.
I loved it. I loved the kids. I loved being surrounded by books. I loved how much I was learning about people and motivation and the world and who I was in it.
Looking back, I see how LOADS of what I learned as a teacher shaped my first business— even though it was a drastic career change.
When you are a teacher, the needs of EVERYONE ELSE come before yours. The school calendar becomes a rhythm and a lifestyle. Everything is planned around your work.
And so when I left teaching and started my first business, I did the same thing— planned my life around my work.
It was fine, actually, working working working for a decade.
Until it wasn’t
Because newborns, as I quickly found out, actually get to call the shots FOR EVERYTHING. They don’t care what meetings you intended to schedule or launches you planned to have.
So I had to unlearn a rhythm that had kept me HUGELY productive and yet burnt out of not just one— but two careers.
I finally came to understood the idea of a “LIFE-FIRST” business— which, PS, is the lens through which we co-create offers with our clients inside the Impact Incubator— and is hard to do when you actually LOVE what you do for work. It seems like you’re living a life-first business when your work is fun.
But… that’s the trickiest part.
HOT TAKE:
If you want a life-first business, you have to put your life on the calendar first.
Period.
(I mean, duh— but yeah… I wasn’t doing it. So maybe it DOESN’T go without saying? Maybe this is helpful for you, too? It only took me 20 years to learn! 😉)
TRUST THIS: Your business can (and will) adapt to a new rhythm… but your relationships, health, and personal joy shouldn’t have to compete with it— they must come first.
1. Put the non-negotiables on your calendar first.
Start with the big stuff: family birthdays, anniversaries, vacations, reflection and planning days, and any other important personal dates. If you’re a CEO or entrepreneur, block off time for strategic planning, too—these are the days where you work on your business, not just in it.
2. Book your vacation time.
Yes, before you schedule launches or business deadlines. Vacation is not a “nice-to-have” if there’s time left over—it’s fuel for your energy, creativity, and longevity. Even if it’s just a few long weekends, put them on the calendar now.
3. Schedule your launches and business priorities around your life.
Notice how this comes after personal commitments. Your launches, campaigns, and business goals will fit into the spaces you’ve left, not the other way around.
4. Create a daily schedule that supports your well-being.
This is where you get granular and look at each hour of your day. Block time for moving your body, eating meals without multitasking, reading for pleasure, and taking breaks (binging Love is Blind on Netflix?) to reset your brain. This isn’t indulgence—it’s basic maintenance. If you don’t make time for these things, your body and mind will force you to later, and it won’t be pretty. (Trust me and my two years of “going dark” online to recalibrate.)
5. Fill in everything else around these priorities.
Once your life, well-being, and key business moments are scheduled, you’ll find the rest of your work fits into the spaces you’ve intentionally left.
It’s not too late.
The best time to plant a tree, they say, is 20 years ago… the second best time is now. You have lots of 2025 left. Reclaim the rest of your year and build the schedule you actually want. Put your life FIRST.
This Week
PONDER: When life seems really huge, some perspective on the vastness of human existence can help. Hence why my fascination with Pompeii that started in the 6th grade continues today. I’m watching this.
READ: Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld - Just finished this and it was an absolute delight reading about how a writer for a fictitious SNL-type show reluctantly falls in love with the host and musical guest she meets on the job.
LISTEN: Lessons from the longest study on happiness.
LEARN: The Impact Incubator gives you the structure, time, guidance, and integrated wisdom to actualize your vision. Based in neuroscience and research-backed adult learning practices, The Impact Incubator is a business development program rooted in a life-first philosophy— unlike any other out there. We’d love to show you what it’s all about. Book a no-pressure tour, here.
