I’ve had the privilege over the last few years to work with two companies that are proud members of the SIMA community. Both are family-owned businesses that have experienced a tremendous amount of growth—as well as the challenges that come with that growth.

The problem is that when you get to a certain level, your ambition can actually start to get in the way of moving you forward.

Many of these business leaders get home after a long day’s work—already completely exhausted—pick up their phones and get right back to the grind. It’s like the work never ends. And yet, despite working ridiculously hard all day, they still find themselves wondering: did I actually move the needle on growth today?

Typically, that’s where I come in. I help hard-working, family-owned business owners get to the next level—without working 24/7.

Let me be clear: When I say, "without working 24/7," I mean it. I mean time to go to your kid’s baseball game without checking your phone. I mean weekends off. I mean vacations actually spent vacationing; not sneaking to the restroom to check your voicemail or respond to emails. (One of the greatest compliments I’ve ever received was from a client’s wife, who said to me: "I got my husband back. When he’s sitting down at dinner, he’s not checking his phone under the table. When he’s home, he’s home.")

Sounds nice, doesn’t it? Perhaps it also sounds completely and totally unattainable for you?

I know it may seem like a tall order. But believe it or not, it is possible. It’s especially possible if you’re already in the top 4%—that is, people who had the courage to start their own business and the grit to be successful at it.

So, what does it take to get there? Great question! If you want to play at the highest level and continue to grow your business—while having a life—it’s critical to understand that peak performance is actually a process of elimination. It’s a process of doing less, not more. This is a message I remind my clients’ (very busy) brains right from the get-go. Together, we work on integrating the following essential learnings into their day-to-day lives:

A distracted mind is not a peak-performing mind

If you are working in a distracted state, you are nowhere near working at your best. When you think of your day-today, how often do you have time to sit and think and work on the future of your company—to work on the business and not in the business? When was the last time you had a day, or even an hour, without your phone to work on where you’re going?

The reality for most of us is that we are constantly checking our phones and constantly getting interrupted. If we’re working even on two tasks, we’re only working at 40% (this is called "context switching," and the research is fascinating). If we do not actually address our productivity problem, the wheels will just keep spinning. Investing in focus time daily and weekly is truly a game-changer.

The power of ONE goal

I use a "Growth and Focus Canvas." exercise that involves learning how to identify a good goal, a better goal, and the best goal for yourself at a given time. It included questions like: "What do you need to stop doing?" "What do you need to start doing?" and "What do you need to continue doing?" An exercise like this can bring tremendous clarity. It not only captures what we’re doing well but creates a path forward to start doing more of it.

Shorten the game

A lot of people talk about KPIs when they do strategic planning in January, and then find the ability to focus on the right things daily very challenging. So, the key is to have one goal—not 2, not 5, not 10.

Focus on that one goal you’ve identified as your "best goal," and break that goal into 90-day periods. Ninety days is the perfect amount because it’s enough time to accomplish a lot, but it’s not too long that it gets lost in the shuffle. It’s about working on the right things at the right time. I should be able to call you at any time and say: "What’s your goal for the next 90 days for the company and what are you doing to move that forward?" and you should be able to answer.

Celebrate your wins

Even in the worst weeks, there are things to celebrate. This is why it’s so important to make note of your successes every week. Otherwise, it’s all too easy to get tunnel vision when it comes to our challenges, and to forget about all the things that are going right. I start all my coaching calls, meetings and keynotes by asking people to think of three wins they want to celebrate this week. It’s a powerful habit to catch yourself doing things well.

Shawn Shepheard loves helping family owned businesses get to the next level without working 24/7. Find out about his opening intensives and group coaching programs at shawnshepheard.com.