For founders who’ve managed to maintain healthy relationships while building, what systems or boundaries actually worked for you?
Entrepreneurship quietly destroys more relationships than people talk about how do you manage it?
byu/One-Ice7086 inEntrepreneur
Posted by One-Ice7086
11 Comments
Clear boundaries & honest communication matter more than hustle, protect fixed time for people you care about & don’t make them compete with your startup for attention.
A lot of damage happens when people around you do not really understand what they are signing up for.
What helped me was being very clear about seasons. Some months are calm, some are not, and pretending otherwise just creates resentment. Boundaries matter, but so does actually showing up when you say you will.
It is not perfect, but clarity beats constant apologies.
The only thing to work on is your mindset. Positive, resilient, flexible mindset, like athletes training years and years for a season, a tournament a chance to prove themselves.
They do have bad seasons, tough moments, obstacles to overcome, just like any person in life or business.
They do have to maintain relationships, works with coaches, clubs, team mates AND curate their personal life.
What athletes do? they prioritise their mindset and mental wellbeing. The set aside moments during the day and week for themselves, they analyse what is going well and what is not, they rely on other people’s support and guidance, especially when it gets tough.
This in a nutshell has always been my advice for entrepreneurs. Behave like elite athletes. Copy their system and you’ll do just great win life and business.
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for sharing!
totally, entrepreneurship quietly eats up relationships if you let it. set non negotiable family time, share your calendar, and automate or delegate repetitive stuff like social posts so you actually have downtime and show up when it matters.
Check out GBRS (DJ Shipley) on YouTube. His theme “dials not switches”. Don’t listen to hustle grinder bros bro
Well, not all relationships will remain when you build something of your own. It’s a fact.
yeah, it wrecks more than people admit. set nonnegotiable family hours and a weekly check in so youre actually present, and offload repeat stuff like social posts and scheduling to an automation tool so you dont have to be “on” 24/7. trust me the small predictable rituals save relationships.
My wife is an artist. She says she has a drive inside her that means she doesnt feel fulfilled unless she has space and time to create.
And thats exactly how I feel about my startup. Its not a choice its something I feel I have to do.
Recognising my wifes drivers has enabled me to recognise and frame my own.
We have a daughter and I often find myself asking right now is my daughters needs greater than my businesses, usually the answer is yes. Would I love to spend this afternoon planning for 2026 – yes. Am I spending it with my daughter going to the theatre instead – yes.
I mean I run a service business. I’m self-employed. I don’t have any kids and I have a girlfriend but her and I both like space and we talk everyday and sleep together a few nights a week etc.
I feel like I have a good work life balance. I set my own schedule. I do what I want when I want. I need to have good relationships with my customers because I get a lot of referrals. That’s the majority like 90 plus percent of my business is referral based. So I don’t really feel that entrepreneurship has ruined my relationships but maybe it’s cuz I’m not doing a startup or acting like a dude bro or something along those lines. I like my time off. I like freedom and flexibility. I like making money and I try to prioritize it with somebody wants to do business with me that I get there ASAP cuz when I don’t a lot of times they just figure it out on their own or just give up and would rather me not come