Maybe owning a firm hasn’t turned out to be what you thought it was going to be. You’re doing mostly sales, bookkeeping, and administration when you thought you’d be having client strategy meetings and developing breakthrough concepts. The days are long, and the rewards are, so far, thin.

The honeymoon is over, and you’re left with the dishes and laundry.

If your good friend was telling you this story about their relationship, what advice would you give them?

Here’s what I might say…

You’ve got to work on the relationship.

Things can grow stale because you’re in a routine. Not one you consciously negotiated, just one you fell into. Maybe you need to re-negotiate your relationship with your job!

Doing all the things that no one else wants to do is a lousy job description. Review your calendar over the last couple of weeks and look for the times you were doing stuff that fired you up! Then delegate or hire someone to do the rest.

Fan the embers

Now that you have found some times on your calendar that light your fire, do more of that!

You are the boss. You can design your perfect week and allocate your work according to what gives you energy and engages you.

Spice things up

Is there something that you know would be good for you and your business, but you’ve been too scared/tired/busy to do it? Commit yourself to make it happen. Build a plan for success and get your team on board to help you.

When our “love” grows stale, we think the only options are to endure or quit; sometimes, we need help from the outside to see that the love is still there. But if we look for the positive signals, engage our creativity, and take charge of the situation, we can create a whole new one!