What Do You Want Out of Life? Your Business Can’t Answer That for You.

It’s the start of a new year—a time when everyone gets annoyingly reflective, including me. This year feels extra significant because, well, I just had my second child. (And let me tell you, nothing screams “reevaluate your priorities” quite like managing the chaos of two kids while trying to keep your freelance business afloat.)

So here I am, asking myself some deep questions: What do I want this year to look like? How do I want to feel at the end of each day?

As a freelancer, I’ve come to realise something that Latasha James said so beautifully: “In order to know what you need from your business, you have to know what you want out of life.” Let that sink in for a moment. Because if you’re anything like me, it’s easy to get caught up in client demands, deadlines, and the hustle. You forget to stop and ask the big question: What’s all this hustle even for?

For me, it’s not about climbing some imaginary ladder, it's definitely not about how impressive my LinkedIn profile looks. It’s about freedom—the freedom to spend time with my kids, work on projects I actually care about, and maybe, just maybe, have 10 minutes of uninterrupted quiet at the end of the day. (I know, aiming high:p )

But here’s the thing: your business won’t magically give you the life you want unless you’re clear about what that life looks like. If you don’t define it, someone else will—your clients, the internet, or that little voice in your head that thinks busy equals successful.?

So, I’ve started asking myself a few tough-but-worth-it questions:

• What kind of life do I want to wake up to every day??
• Am I running my business, or is my business running me?
• Will this project get me closer to the life I want—or just add more noise to my inbox?

The answers aren’t always pretty. I’ve said yes to too many things in the past, thinking they’d lead to some magical “next level.” But now, with two kids and a bunch of incomplete passion projects that are starting to concern me, I’m learning to say no to things that don’t align with what I actually want.

So this is my lesson from all these years of freelancing: when you build your business around your life—your real life, not the Instagram version—everything starts to feel easier. Clients notice when you’re genuinely excited about the work. Opportunities flow more naturally when you’re operating from a place of clarity and purpose.

So, as we dive into this shiny new year, let’s keep it real. Forget what the hustle gurus are shouting at you. Ask yourself: What do I want out of life? Then, build your business to serve that—not the other way around.

Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this: a business that doesn’t align with your life isn’t success—it’s just stress.