Every morning, Noel Chandler wakes up at 5 a.m. to the sounds of the jungle. He sneaks out of bed, tiptoes past his kids' room as they sleep and meditates for 20 minutes. Then he tosses his surfboard in his Land Cruiser and drives down the road for his morning surf.
“Sitting [meditation] and surfing; it’s the best way to start the day," he says. He then heads back home to help his wife get the kids ready for school and dives into his work day. "It wasn’t always like this,” Chandler adds, "The year before we moved here was one of the darkest and most unhealthy 12 months of my life.”
In fact, his lifestyle was quite different than it is these days.
Taking Ownership
Chandler, a client of mine, is a serial entrepreneur, angel investor, and CEO and co-founder of Mosio, a healthcare research software company. Four years ago, the stress of building a company began taking its toll on his health and happiness, leading him to 70-plus hour work weeks of worry. “I was running a software company that improves the healthcare industry, yet I was incredibly unhealthy, overweight, depressed, and far from the best version of myself. It didn’t make sense,” says Chandler.
Something had to change, so in deciding what they wanted out of life, the couple and their two children moved to Costa Rica. The re-focus on priorities not only changed him personally, but it encouraged him to create something beneficial for everyone on his team. “It started with me, but ended up having a huge impact on the type of company I wanted to lead,” he adds. “I knew Mosio could be a successful place where work complemented life’s truly important currencies: health, happiness and time.”
Focusing On Lifestyle And Output
Since then, Chandler has lost 30 pounds, meditates and surfs almost every day. He and his business partner, Jay Sachdev, have created a culture focused on lifestyle flexibility and output rather than hours clocked. In July 2015, the company began working just four days a week. “This took our mission as a healthcare company to a new level. Our 'Health, Happiness and Hobbies' mantra enables us to hire easily and keep a dedicated team.”
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His advice for entrepreneurs looking to make the shift is as follows:
1. Take a personal inventory of your time, health and happiness. Look at what is most important to you and fulfill those needs. “You need to take care of yourself first or you’re not going to be able to help anyone else,” Chandler says. “Sacrificing the most important things in life now with the hopes you’ll get them after you’ve achieved certain milestones is a fool’s bet. Something always comes up,” he adds.
2. Create a business support network. Through advisors, mentors, coaches, or fellow entrepreneurs, surround yourself with support. “Choose people other than your significant other or business partners. You need people you can be real with — in a business sense — to help you tackle challenges.”
3. Hire great cultural fits. Find people prepared to work within an infrastructure of self-sufficiency and professionalism. “This is easier said than done,” Chandler says, “But those who are a good fit and value the format, step up. Those who aren’t find their way out,” he adds.
4. Trust the process. Create great systems and personal . Read More......
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