Over the last seven months I’ve been taking a class on small business management. One of the prevalent themes has been measuring your joy and wealth in your business, and in your life. When I think about the words joy and wealth and how they apply to business I think that what stands out most is that the majority of self-employed people I’ve met do seem focused on achieving a measure of joy and wealth in their business that’s based on a recognition that working for themselves is integral part of their joy and wealth.

Working for yourself isn’t for everyone. It can be stressful, especially when you are your own boss. But there is a satisfaction in knowing you’re the boss. Part of what I love about self-employment is being on my own schedule, but also being able to meet and work with a variety of people I’d probably not meet in a more conventional work setting. Being on my own schedule helps not so much because I can slack off (though I could) but because it allows me to fit meetings and networking events in with working on my business or projects. And being self-employed does involve a lot of work. While it can be nice to take a break, I always have to keep in mind various projects, both client projects and my own.

The joy and wealth of all of this is based partially on income, but just as much on enjoyment of my life and of my work. Having worked at many jobs I didn’t like, I can safely say that being self-employed brings more joy to me. The wealth could sometimes be better, but I’m working on that and it has gotten better recently just by changing the focus of my business. Part of that wealth is creative ideas, and being engaged in work that is meaningful and produces joy because you are doing what you are called to do.

I think one component of joy and wealth which isn’t always focused on is business-life balance. I love my businesses, but I also love my downtime. It’s how I recharge and its what keeps me motivated and focused on doing well with my business. Knowing when to give myself a break or time off has been just as important in improving my wealth and joy.