It seems to me that there's a kind of “cult of hardship” amongst entrepreneurs.

Many of us seem to glory in how hard we work. Telling everyone on social media how we were up at 5am and got in hours of work before the rest of the world rose.

Many entrepreneurs seem to wear their hard work like a badge of honour. Like you're not really a proper business person if you're not working 18 hours a day and being worn out all the time.

I think that's madness and I just don't believe it.

In my experience, some of the most successful business people live quite normal lives. They're good at working the 80:20 rule and focusing on the big things that bring them the biggest results rather than obsessing over the small things that don't.

They realise that we're in business to have a great life, not to let business become our life.

And they make sure they're enjoying their business too. Working with the clients they enjoy working with, on projects they find stimulating and rewarding.

Easier said than done, of course. You need to be good at generating plenty of leads to be able to pick and choose the right clients for you.

But not impossible.

Not if you put your mind to it