When my wife, AnneMarie, and I first started talking about moving to Portugal, we never discussed tax rates, weather forecasts or property prices.

We were talking about the kind of life we wanted.

We wanted more time together as a family.

We wanted a  slower pace of life.

The chance to embrace a different culture.

The opportunity to travel and explore somewhere we’d always loved.

And a place where my son Harry, could grow up and gain a different perspective on the world.

That vision wasn’t born when we packed the removal van in 2016. It started three years earlier, when we began asking ourselves a much bigger question.

What sort of life are we actually trying to build?

I set up Nuvem9 in 2013.

The intention was to provide high quality financial advice to small business owners. Faster, better and more extensively than before.

However, it was also designed from day one to do something else.

We weren’t just building a business.

We were building the vehicle that would make a new life possible.

Over the past month, I’ve shared a number of reflections about leadership.

The importance of stepping away from your business.

Protecting your attention.

Helping other people become confident decision-makers.

Watching your team grow rather than depend on you.

Looking back, I realise none of those were really the destination.

They were simply the tactics we used to help build the life we wanted.

Freedom isn’t created by accident

You have to design it.

One decision at a time.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about taking a few days away and genuinely forgetting it was Monday.

However, the real story was that we’d quietly built a business, and more importantly, a dependable team, that allowed it to happen.

In that time I have not become less committed.

Nor has the business become less important to us.

It happened because we had spent over 10 years creating systems, developing people and building trust.

That wasn’t stepping away from the business.

It was the result of years spent building it the right way.

Crossing the road

Last week I wrote about Harry, teaching him to cross the road as a young boy, and eventually trusting him to make those decisions for himself.

That was one small lesson, which became another, and another.

Then in June this year he boarded his flight to the USA.

His independence didn’t begin there. It started crossing the street that first time.

Business isn’t that different.

• Every time we coach rather than answer
• Every time we trust instead of control
• Every time we ask, “What do you think?” rather than simply giving the answer

We’re helping someone else take another step towards independence.

And every one of those steps makes YOUR business stronger.

Perspective Changes Everything

People very close to me often (half) joke and ask “Do you really care about anything?” as I am so laid back. 

The truth is of course I do. I care about many things passionately,  However, I also really genuinely don’t care about a lot of other things.

One of the unexpected gifts of living in Portugal has been gaining that perspective.

I’d rather watch a sunset or a crashing wave than stress over buying a new car.

I’d rather spend a night out watching a football match with friends than stay in an expensive hotel.

I’d rather spend an afternoon lounging in the sun with music on than a Saturday shopping.

I’d rather swim in the Atlantic than sit on a cruise ship sailing in it.

There is nothing wrong with wanting all those other things. I just know I don’t, and I don’t care about thinking that I should be.

The perspective is there is no single right  definition of success. There is only one that’s right for you.  This is simply mine. 

I think appreciating, and understanding, those moments have also probably made me a better adviser.

I’m definitely calmer.

I now listen more carefully.

I react much slower.

I spend more time asking questions to ensure I give better answers.

I’m more interested in helping founders build businesses that support the lives they want, rather than becoming consumed by the businesses they’ve created.

My business was never the destination

Nuvem9 was simply the vehicle.

Somewhere along the way, I see some founders accidentally reverse this.

The business suddenly becomes the goal.

Growth becomes the goal.

Revenue becomes the goal.

Being indispensable becomes the goal.

And, again, if that is what they deeply care about, those things matter. Every successful business needs ambition, commercial discipline and financial performance.

However, they’re not the reason most of us started.

We don’t dream about spreadsheets, KPIs or organisational charts. (If you do that is fine by the way!)

We dream about having choices.

The freedom to choose what to do next.

To create opportunities for our families.

To build something we’re really proud of.

To make an impact.

To life on our own terms.

The business is simply what makes those things possible.

What do I value now?

I’ve now realised I value different things than I did twenty years ago.

I still enjoy growth.

I still love helping clients solve complex problems.

I still get excited by building systems, developing people and seeing businesses thrive.

However, today, I definitely value something else even more.

Having the choice:

• To spend time with family
• To take a Monday off without worrying
• To have the time to watch Harry carve out his own path
• To sit with a client, free from distraction, and help them think more clearly about theirs

None of those moments will ever appear on the Nuvem9 P&L.

However, they’re exactly what the P&L account was always meant to create.

The one lesson

If there’s one lesson I’ve taken from reflecting over the past month, it’s this.

Don’t spend so much time building your business that you forget why you started building it in the first place.

Know your why.

Design your life first.

Then build a business that supports it.

Businesses can always grow and evolve

Revenue can always increase.

Processes can always improve.

Time, however, only ever moves in one direction.

So build a business you’re proud of.

Never lose sight of why you’re building it.

The greatest return your business will ever generate isn’t just financial.

It’s the life it gives you the freedom to live.