My self-discipline comes in the form of a daily schedule. I’m at my desk by seven. My mornings are spent on creative activities and planning. My afternoons are reserved for phone calls, meetings, and reaching out to others. Evenings and weekends are for play.

My approach is that I always work before I play. However, there are times when a friend calls to invite me to join them for an early morning “recreational” activity. (I’m thinking of Harry and his boat.) On rare occasions, I will break my routine and join in. However, because of my self-discipline, I replace time lost by working Saturday morning.

Some people look at my approach and say, “How boring. You’re a slave to your business.” I don’t see it that way. I believe that without self-discipline, we accomplish far less.

The way I look at it, when we — knowingly or unknowingly — allow others to have power over us. And that stands in the way of success when it comes to starting a business.

I wasn’t always this way. My natural tendency was to be “loose” — to work when I felt like it and play whenever the opportunity presented itself. Those were lean earning years.

In time, I not only learned the value of self-discipline, I mastered self-discipline.

Some people have a really hard time with this. So they opt to have someone else hold them accountable – that is, to keep their feet to the fire. Working with a business coach or subscribing to an online accountability program help people who are starting a business set goals and objectives that are tied to a calendar.

By stating to a coach or entering a specific objective such as, “By next week, I’ll finish up on A, B, and C and make that call to Mr. Z,” helps assure that the tasks get done.

For someone starting a business, it’s good to know that self-discipline can be learned, as can working with an online accountability program. If you have a clock and calendar, and can make goals for yourself, it doesn’t take long for you to see the rewards of this serious approach to making it happen.

NASA celebrates the 40th Anniversary of Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20th.

While many people typically look at the moon landing itself as the “big story,” I am first and foremost impressed with the immense amount of planning that was required to make this incredible event happen.

Planning is about setting a goal or defining a mission and then creating the definitive list of “things” that have to happen… in the precise order they need to happen so that you reach the goal.

This planning also includes contingencies. Because as much as we would like to see things happen 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and so on, they don’t always do that. Something happens along the way that requires us to transpose two steps, eliminate one of those steps, or create a new step. The end result could be 1, 3, 2, 4a, 4b, 7, 6a, and so on. You get the picture.

Starting a new business is no different that putting a man on the moon. It requires a clear and definite destination. And then it requires an understanding of the steps necessary to make it happen. That means breaking down the mission into a series of manageable steps or activities.

Starting a new business requires considerably fewer steps than putting a man on the moon. My approach in helping people start a new business is to create a “short list” of only the most essential steps of the startup, and then go back later to fill in all of the other steps.

The other thing that impresses me about this mission is that before that first moonwalk, no one had walked on the moon. All of the planning occurred without previously having the specific experience of putting a man on the moon.

So it is with a business startup. You don’t need specific experience in how to start a business. Your lifetime of experiences in other endeavors is usually more than ample to carry you through this planning as well as the implementation.

These 3 little known ways to own a business and have a life are things you can do… steps you can take… to reach a balance in your life. Planning.  Planning is essential to life.  If you don’t have a plan, it’s easy to wind up missing out on those things that are most important in life.

1. Develop processes, systems, and procedures at work that keep you from having to reinvent the wheel every time a particular issue comes up.
2. Schedule time off.  Put it in your PDA or your calendar and book it… and stick to it.  Regardless of your passion, if you don’t put it in your book, it won’t happen.
3. Schedule specific time throughout each week (again, put it in your calendar) to work on your business. There’s a big difference between working in your business and working on it.  It’s the difference between dealing with the daily low-end, low-value details of your business, and the long-range strategic planning that supports your vision.

There is a bonus… a reward… a gigantic payoff to you when you do this – when you take time off for yourself.

First, you empower your employees.  Your time away establishes and exhibits a trust – from you to them, and vice versa.  And they see this trust as a mandate from you to take action in your absence.  In other words, they learn to make decisions.

Second, you actually improve employee morale.  When you’re happy, they’re happy. Plus, with you away from the shop, they are able to do more.

Third, you get to see how your time off actually improves the overall efficiency of your organization.  And this is undoubtedly the most important of all.  People are not designed to work 80 hours a week without an end in sight. It does take a toll – mentally, physically, and emotionally.