Why I Don't Work Gary Vaynerchuk's Schedule and Neither Should You Learning from entrepreneurial idols is wise, trying to be their clone is a deadend.
By Kimanzi Constable Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
When you log into your Facebook account, you've probably seen at least one of your friends share some quote, video or article from entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk.
It seems like he's everywhere.
What Vaynerchuk has achieved is impressive. He built a popular web show called Wine Library TV that took his family's wine business from $4 million a year to $60 million dollars a year. He has written four New York Times bestsellers, developed a wildly popular personal brand and grown VaynerMedia into a $100 million dollar media company.
Vaynerchuk gives us a glimpse into his life and schedule with his vlog Daily Vee. You can see he practices what he preaches, working from early morning to late at night. Now, the vlog is edited, so we don't see every minute of his day, but he does a lot of work, all day long.
That much work is what brought Vaynerchuk to where he is in his life and business. It is not what works for me, it likely wouldn't work for you and I bet Gary would advise you against copying his scheduling or work-life balance strategies. Yes, he is very successful and someone we look up to and learn from, but there are two things you should understand about work-life balance.
Related: Millionaire Gary Vaynerchuk Shares His Secrets on Personal Branding
The 'life' part has to come first.
Whether you are working a job or building your own business, the work-life balance needs to tilt in favor of your life.
So often in life, we get caught up in all the things we have to do. We have business projects and clients clamoring for attention, family obligations and 100 other things. Juggling what seems urgent makes our work-life balance nonexistent. That's why the "life" part has to come before work or business. If you only focus on work or business, every other area of your life will suffer. You will wonder why you started a business or a demanding career in the first place.
Richard Branson is a great example of how to have the proper work-life balance. He often talks about this idea of "work and play." He shares valuable tips on his blog about how to keep what's important in perspective. Branson recommends limiting how often you check email and social media, making time for family and friends, waking up early and planning.
You can call it "hustle" or another new age term but, in the bigger picture, working from early in the day to late at night is work-life imbalance. Build time into your schedule for resting and fun activities. Adopt the "work/play" attitude that Branson talks about and that you see him living.
Related: Richard Branson: To Be Successful, Take the Stairs
You can only achieve success at your pace.
Copying Gary Vaynerchuk or anyone else won't make you successful. Copying what he does and the way he does it won't give you the same results he has had. There is value in modeling success strategies but copying them seldom works out how we hope.
Jeff Bezos has built the largest ecommerce company in the world. To say that he is busy is an understatement. Yet, he spends time every Tuesday and Thursday at malls seeking insights on people and their shopping behaviors. What Bezos learns there has helped him shape the Amazon customer experience.
Three times a year Bezos teaches his employees what he calls "work-life harmony." He firmly believes when you have the proper balance you are happy at home and work, which allows you to perform better. Bezos works hard to make sure there is a proper work-life balance at Amazon and in his own life.
Related: Jeff Bezos Knows the Difference Between Content and Complacent
Gary Vaynerchuk is doing what works for him. He might have a great work-life balance that we just don't see on camera. The point is that your work or business can't consume or take over your life. When the balance is in alignment, every part of your life will flow.
Work and business are an important part of life, but not the most important. Learn from Gary Vaynerchuk and others, but create solutions and a schedule that's right for you.
