Passion usually gets us into our entrepreneurial profession, as there would be little other reason for us to take such giant risks. It's a double-edged sword, though, as passion can make us push ourselves too hard. It also can have us make short-term decisions that don't make any sense for our well being or, ironically, for our actual long-term business.
We should expect to make adjustments within specific periods - people call it "crunch time". For instance, I spent more than a year getting up in the wee hours of the night to launch my startups and my speaking career, but I put a set time limit on that insane schedule, which helped me stay balanced throughout.
Unfortunately, it is way too easy to begin sacrificing important things and making crisis mode your default. Here are the big three parts of your life that are not worth putting at the sacrificial altar.
Sleep: I'm guilty as charged on this one, which is why I can speak from experience. Media mogul Arianna Huffington has written a best-selling book on the importance of sleep. Jeff Bezos, who is easily controlling half of your online commerce, gets eight hours a night. Science has proven that it is more productive to get more sleep and work less than it is to do the opposite (and why a nap should be on your daily agenda).
Food: A "nutritious" shake may save 15 minutes time, but it doesn't give your mind and body the break it needs to process problems nor to rest between intense work blocks. Not eating at all is truly a recipe for disaster, and the older we get, the less our bodies will tolerate the stress.
Relationships: What's funny is that we never really sacrifice our relationships, but just burnout our social currency. You become the friend that only calls when she needs something (and, as an entrepreneur, you will definitely eventually need something). Not cultivating and managing your relationships ends up hurting your business growth - doing the opposite of what you may claim you're not cultivating and managing your relationships for.
