When my first child was born, I knew I wanted to work from home. Working from home was a dream job back in 2003 and it was hard to get any company (for the most part) to let you work from home. My have things changed!

But then around 2008 I discovered blogging and online services. I went all in so I could replace my job income and stay home with my kids. It was all good EXCEPT for the fact that I never really took the time to think about or create the type of life I really wanted.

Instead I was taking client after client and the next thing I knew I was miserable. No time for nothing. Have you ever felt like that?

I didn’t learn my lesson, because I started another client based business after that and that one took up all of my time too. Sure I outsourced here and there but something was still not sitting right with me. I was drained and eventually I felt burned out. That’s one of the reasons why I create mini-courses (and you should too) – so that you don’t get burned out and so you don’t have to rely ONLY on trading time for money.

BUT it wasn’t until I started writing things down that I was able to understand that I just dove in without even thinking about the how, what, when, where, why’s of creating a business and life that I felt on fire for.

We all have the ability to design our lives and businesses to suit US. That is why I LOVE being an entrepreneur!! You CREATE your ideal life.

The sad part is that many of us start out with the idea that our businesses will help us live life on our terms but some where along the way the line becomes blurred and suddenly our businesses are running us lol!

There’s only ONE big difference between people who are living their dream business and lives, and those who continue to only daydream about a better future. What’s the difference? CLARITY.

When you are CLEAR on exactly how you want to live life then it becomes CLEAR on how to get it. We change so this should be revisited often.

Here are four things (the 4 D’s) I did (and do) to revamp and turn things around when I’ve gotten away from my ideal biz and life. It’s a process and I’m constantly reassessing and redirecting things!

1. DEFINE your ideal work and lifestyle. This is the perfect opportunity to sit down and use a journal to write things down in. Journaling has been awesome for me in so many ways. At this point you get to dream BIG. Write down all the ideas that come to mind and do NOT edit yourself! Keeping a journal is SO empowering!

2. DETERMINE what exactly is needed to make your dream lifestyle to come to fruition. Be very detailed.

3. DEVELOP a roadmap (aka plan) to get you from where you are now to where you want to be. This includes understanding what roadblocks will come up as well.

4. Take DECISIVE action every day to create your dream business and life. That might look like planning out every thing. That might mean saying ‘no’ to someone or something. It might mean waking up earlier. When we take decisive action we are choosing our dream life. When we don’t make up our mind and we don’t take action we end up settling for a life chosen for us.

Life always has a way to knock us off track. We just have to remember to get back on track. Revisit these four areas often so you can create that dream business and life you desire.