You’re Building the Business—But Are You Missing the Life?

In this no-fluff, heart-centered episode, I get really honest about something most entrepreneurs don’t talk about enough: the cost of building a business at the expense of our life, health, and relationships. This one was recorded after one of the biggest milestones in my personal life—dropping off my son at college—and I realized freedom isn’t something you wait for, it’s something you choose.

I used to chase numbers, market share, and trophies. But somewhere along the way, I realized I already had the life I was trying to earn—I just wasn’t living it. I share the emotional moments, the lessons hustle culture doesn’t teach you, and 5 game-changing rhythms that helped me stop deferring life and start designing a business that actually supports it.

If you’ve ever told yourself “I’ll slow down later,” this episode will be a wake-up call. Let’s get clear, take aligned action, and truly transform how we define success.

💡 The 5 Shifts I Share:

1. Rhythm Before Revenue – Weekly check-ins to prioritize what matters before work.
2. Calendar the Life You Want – Family, joy, and presence go in the calendar first.
3. Empowerment Over Control – Letting go so you can show up more.
4. Audit Your Yeses – If it’s not aligned with your mission, it’s a no.
5. Ask the 5-Year Question – Will this even matter five years from now?

What We Cover:

• The hidden cost of hustle culture
• The real meaning of success
• Designing a life you don't need to escape from
• Balancing ambition and presence
• How to lead and delegate with intention
• Shifting from “later” to “now”

If you’re ready to design a business that actually supports your life—not one that steals it—head to letsplaybigger.com to check out our tools, coaching, and community. Don’t wait for freedom. Design it now.

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Thank you for joining me on this episode of The Raquel Show, and remember, keep pushing your limits to achieve your goals.

For updates and collaborations or opportunities, go to www.LetsPlayBigger.com

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Chapters

• 1:29 Introduction: Not a Business Tip
• 3:05 Dropping my son off at college hit me hard
• 6:00 Redefining success in my life
• 7:25 Rhythm Before Revenue
• 7:55 Calendar the Life You Want
• 8:18 Empowerment Over Control
• 8:50 Audit Your Yeses
• 9:13 Ask the 5-Year Question

Transcript

If you don't design your life around what matters, your business, I promise you will consume all of it. I've seen it over and over with so many entrepreneurs. And that also includes your health, your relationships and your joy or what actually fulfills you. The worst part is you won't even notice until it's too late because busy becomes normal. Missing dinner becomes normal. Living your to-do list becomes normal.

So what is success really? For me, I'm not going to lie. It used to be revenue. It used to be the next milestone. It used to be chasing trophies. It used to be the next best thing or market share or being the number one. It was all tied to what I thought was growth. 

You can always make more money, especially when you learn it. But you can never make more time. 

Welcome back to the Raquel Show. This show is for entrepreneurs who want to play bigger in business and in life. And today's episode, my friends is not a business tip. Yep. It's not a business tip. It's not a marketing strategy. It is so much deeper than that. And it's about why do we do all of this in the first place? Why did we choose not to go the eight to five job route and go into entrepreneurship? Why do we chase those big goals? 

Why do we build empires? Why do we have so much sacrifice and we deal with so much disappointment, whether it's rejection or someone leaving our company and we still show up day after day because sometimes you need the reminder that we build our business to create the life we want and to make the money we want and to have the flexibility we want because those are just some of the perks of being your own boss and having your own business. And sometimes we realize that when we are so busy with work, we miss out on being present. Guess what? And present is the most overlooked business strategy of all. 

We don't get those moments back. And the reason why I want to talk about this is because a few days ago, I experienced one of those milestones. 

You think, you would actually be prepared for. But there is no podcast. There is no book. There's no checklist. And not even the advice of friends could have made it easier. We finally dropped off our son, Bryce, to college in Indiana where he received a D1 scholarship to go play basketball. And it hit me hard. It actually hit our whole family hard for several days. The night before we were leaving, I got to help him pack his suitcase and he teared up. The morning of, Brad started crying and couldn't believe he was leaving our house. And even on the plane ride, we were all a bit emotional. Not because Bryce wasn't ready, but because I think time moves so much quicker, so much faster than we think. And one day you're teaching them how to shoot a basketball. 

Then you're traveling all over the country for basketball. And then all of a sudden they graduate. And next you're setting up their dorm room and you're wondering, even today, I still wonder, did I show up for it all? And the truth is, yes, I've missed some moments, not out of neglect, but out of hustle and out of trying to build a business that would someday one day create freedom. But that day standing in the dorm, I realized, I already had the freedom. I just needed to give myself permission to go live it. And I'm so grateful that these last four years, I was super intentional with my time with Bryce and there's still today some moments of doubt. So I want to talk about hustle culture and what it doesn't tell you. 

It hustle culture tells you go, go, go grind now, rest later to earn your freedom or to delay joy, delayed gratification, delay fun, delay life. But guess what? I'm calling BS because you know what's really expensive? Regret. Regretting that you didn't slow down, that you weren't there, that your kids knew your calendar better than your face, that you were always on your phone. You didn't start your business to lose yourself in it. You didn't hustle to go miss life. And yet that happens to so many entrepreneurs, tell ourselves, I'll do it later. I'll make time after I hire after this next client, after this next transaction, after Q3 or after I hit a certain milestone, like 500 K or seven figures, I will slow down. But the truth is later is a myth. And if you don't design your life around what matters, your business, I promise you will consume all of it. 

I've seen it over and over with so many entrepreneurs. And that also includes your health, your relationships and your joy or what actually fulfills you. The worst part is you won't even notice until it's too late because busy becomes normal. Missing dinner becomes normal. Living your to-do list becomes normal. So what is success really? For me, I'm not going to lie. It used to be revenue. 

It used to be the next milestone. It used to be chasing trophies. It used to be the next best thing or market share or being the number one. It was all tied to what I thought was growth. But today success looks like being able to go to Brexton's game when they pop up. And for you guys out there that are sports parents, you know that when they have tournaments and they have bracket play, you really can't plan your weekend because it depends if they win or lose and when the next game is or success for me looks like setting up a dorm really fast because we don't even know how long he's going to be there. Success looks like hanging out and being present with some of my best relationships or choosing to build a business that really does give me my time back. Or success looks like coaching leaders and people who love to take action so that they create the business that they want. Because here's the thing. 

You can always make more money, especially when you learn it. But you can never make more time. So of course, I want to get tactical. Here are five shifts I made to stop deferring life and start living it while still scaling all of our companies. Number one is rhythm before revenue. So every Sunday, I review my week with one question. Where does my time matter the most this week? 

And I will put that first, put my coaching calls, agent calls, team meetings. They follow right after, not the other way around. Number two is calendar the life you want block off family time and whatever matters to you most workouts, not work first and then life, whether it's a walk, a game night, or just being present without my phone. It's not in the calendar. Guess what? It doesn't happen. 

So I treat it like revenue. And number three is empowerment over control. I used to carry it all. Now I lead teens that own it with me. The more you delegate, the more you get to show up in life. I know it's hard for a lot of us as entrepreneurs to delegate because we have to give up some control, but I'll tell you the best thing you can do to multiply your time is to delegate. The CEO doesn't need to be the superhero in everything. You just need to cast the vision and keep it. 

And number four is audit your guesses. Ask weekly. Does this align with my mission, my values, my season and my capacity? If it's a no, say no. If it's a maybe, it's probably a no. So just delegate it because saying yes to everything is saying no to yourself and what truly does matter. And number five is ask 

The five year question. Whenever I'm overwhelmed, whenever I'm stressed out, I ask, will this even matter in five years? And it's one of my favorite questions right now. If the answer is no, it doesn't get my energy today. So imagine the future version of you, the one who's built the business, made the money, hit the goals, but also was there for the sports games, the drop-offs, the birthdays, the quiet moments, the date nights. She didn't get there by grinding herself to the ground. Guess what? You got there by deciding to be present was part of the plan. It's not a bonus. It's a standard. So my question as you listen to this is what's one thing you keep saying you'll do later that you can make time for right now? Because now is the only thing you actually have. My friends, 

I want to thank you for hanging out with me today on another quick no fluff episode. If this episode hits you and you're tired of running the rat race or running out of time, you might just need better systems to create freedom. What if having structure gave you freedom? Know that you are not alone in any of this. 

You are not falling behind. You're just waking up. You're having awareness. You're remembering why you started and you're rewriting the roles for success that matter to you. And if you are ready to design a business that supports your life that you really, really want, go to let's play bigger.com and check out our tools, our community and our coaching and some of our upcoming events. And until next time, I want you to keep taking action and always, always play bigger my friends.