Can a 9-to-5 employee truly start their entrepreneurial journey without sacrificing their relationships and well-being? In this episode, Saeed Al Ghafri dives deep into the challenges faced by high-potential individuals seeking to balance a full-time job, entrepreneurial aspirations, and family life. Through personal stories, coaching experiences, and his own journey, Saeed discusses the difficult trade-offs involved and shares four practical principles to manage this balancing act. He emphasizes the importance of clear boundaries, prioritizing quality over quantity, communicating openly with loved ones, and managing one’s energy through reflection and journaling. Saeed invites listeners to be intentional about their time and energy, reminding them that success is sweetest when shared with those who matter most.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
Timestamps:
Balancing work, family, and your dream isn’t easy—and it’s not about perfect harmony. It’s about being intentional with your choices and sharing your victories with those who matter most.
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Until next time, stay inspired, stay focused, and nurture what truly matters.
(0:00) Can a typical 9am to 5pm employee start their entrepreneurship journey? (0:08) A lot of people think that they can do the three things together very well, but you cannot. (0:13) You know the first thing that happens when you basically admit that you have a problem, (0:17) is that you start blaming and throwing the problem to someone else. Balance doesn't mean (0:24) like when you have three things, it's like 33%, 33%, 33%.
Sometimes balance could be 5%. (0:40) Marhaba and how's it going everyone and welcome back to Yuwab. I'm your host Saeed Ghafri.
(0:47) Yuwab is all about real conversations. Thank you for being with me and thank you for sharing this (0:53) episode. It really means a lot to me and if you're here, it tells me that being resilient (1:00) and growing are one of your priorities.
Let us ask this question. I get this a lot by the way (1:09) and I was thinking the same. Can a typical 9am to 5pm employee start their entrepreneurship journey? (1:20) I get this a lot.
Now, why some people think it's difficult? I'll tell you because you need (1:30) to basically do your job and do your dream which is the entrepreneurship that you want to go (1:37) through. In addition, you need to maintain your relationships. It could be a partner or it could (1:45) be a partner and kids and that's very challenging.
Doable but challenging. If you stay as is and don't (1:58) change, forget it. You're not going to be able to do anything and you know these are like three (2:07) big things and each one has probably 10 or 20 small things that you need to do.
You're really (2:13) doing major things when it comes to that and that's what we're going to talk about today. Now, (2:23) think of those high potentials because there are people who want to do the job and they want (2:30) to satisfy their dream. Now, your ultimate goal is balancing those long hours at work because (2:38) at the end of the day, this is what pays the bill today and the stress that comes from work (2:47) and managing projects and managing people etc.
Then having the focus to build your dream (2:55) and putting all the steps to satisfy that dream and by the end of the day or when you have breaks (3:04) or weekends, being with the people that matter for you. Now, let me share with you a story. (3:14) This is someone that I coached.
Really high potential guy. I was really amazed by the (3:22) energy this person had. Really, I was like Mashallah, I'm amazing, amazing, high potential.
(3:30) This guy reached out to me and he's like, Saeed, I'm like, okay, what do you want man? I want to (3:36) basically do my own consultancy company and I'm like, awesome man, why don't you go ahead and do (3:44) it? He said, okay, that's why I'm talking to you now. I'm like, awesome. So, we went through exactly (3:50) what he's doing. The guy, naturally, he is really doing a lot at work and he's really ambitious (3:59) and he wants to grow the corporate ladder and he wants to be someone in his career, (4:05) which is basically his right by the way. In the same time, he wants to do this specific work (4:14) and the tricky thing here is that he couldn't really outsource it. He had to do it himself.
(4:21) No one else can do it except him. The third thing is, he's like, oh, by the way, I want to balance (4:27) my time between my work and my family. I'm like, okay, that's like a mission impossible, buddy, (4:33) but let's go through it.
Ultimately, we went through a couple sessions and we spoke about (4:38) so many things and eventually, he came to the realization that he cannot do the three things (4:46) together. So, ultimately, he was like, probably I'm going to be okay with where I am today in (4:53) my career, so I don't want to grow much higher. I'm going to focus on building my dream, (5:00) but I can't compromise on my family.
So, that was his conclusion. (5:08) Now, this is exactly, I mean, I know today we're talking about building your dream and (5:13) building, having an entrepreneurship journey, but again, it's exactly like bouncing between (5:18) three major projects, big ones. Can you really do it? It's really not that easy. Let me be (5:30) honest with you. A lot of people think that they can do the three things together very well, (5:37) but you cannot. Really, you cannot.
There will definitely be tradeoffs at work, (5:45) family, or even the dream that you want to do. Now, what's really important is that you've got (5:52) a family there to take care of and the job you have today is the one that pays the bill and (5:59) take care of your family. So, there should not be any compromise on that.
Now, that doesn't mean (6:07) that you cannot do it, but in this journey to do the three things or having a dream to have (6:14) that entrepreneurship journey, you will have to have a tradeoff and that's why we are here today. (6:21) You know, it's very important to also keep in mind that in such a thing, you're going to be (6:28) stressed out. Life will be very much overwhelming on you, so it's important to spend time on your (6:36) well-being and having a family or someone that will always be there for you because in the long (6:44) run, this is your investment.
You know, it's always beautiful to share such an amazing success (6:55) with those who you love and those who you care about because that's basically the trophy you (7:03) have in life. You don't want to be alone eventually. Let me share with you my personal story. (7:10) During COVID, I became this super productive person, to be honest with you. You know, (7:18) everything was super demanding because we were working from home. It's a new thing.
It's outside (7:24) of our comfort zone. We need to run a company, keep things running. In addition, I've always (7:31) wanted to be an executive coach since 2012.
So I said, this time I will do it. (7:41) In addition, I was like, yeah, probably I need also to fulfill my entrepreneurship journey. (7:48) So I had my startup as well.
So many things. And in addition, I had a family. (7:57) Now, it was very difficult to balance between the four.
Really difficult. It wasn't that easy. (8:07) Was I successful eventually? Yes, I made it.
I'm now basically an executive coach. I have my own (8:16) startup and I'm now about to have my second one. And I honestly had a really fantastic relationship (8:24) with my family.
And I did great in my career. I was really promoted one time during COVID. So (8:32) it went very well for me.
Before, honestly, I share with you the details, let me share with you (8:42) those four practical principles when it comes to that, to having that balance. (8:49) The first thing is set clear boundaries specifically for work. I'll tell you why that's (8:59) important because we spend most of our time at work.
And I'll be completely honest with you, (9:06) work never finishes. Whatever you do, it will keep going. It will just keep to be there forever.
(9:15) But you can end the day. It's in your control. And sometimes having those breaks in between (9:25) are really great because you can use that time at work to basically focus on other things.
(9:32) And even after work, you know why having boundaries is important? Because you need to have that (9:38) discipline. Discipline, when you basically want to fulfill your dream becomes very important. (9:47) And having those boundaries will ensure that you satisfy your job and do it in the best way (9:55) and also manage your relationships much better.
So have those boundaries. (10:03) The second principle is, and I see a lot of people falling into this trap, (10:10) you know, quality over quantity, really. For doing all that, you need one thing.
(10:20) And it's a simple thing, but difficult to get. You need time. You need time.
(10:28) You know, I spoke a lot about being productive in my previous episodes. (10:36) But if you want to fulfill your dream, you need to be much more productive and produce more time. (10:43) Listen, in a day, there are 24 hours.
And if you take away six to eight hours of sleep, (10:52) that would leave you between 16 to 18 hours. Eight hours or maybe 10 hours, you are at work. (11:01) So reality is, time is really scarce when it comes to that.
So just to help you speed up that process, (11:10) bring a piece of paper, if you don't have any right now. And just without any thinking process, (11:19) write on it everything you do on a typical day, just everything. Once you have everything done (11:26) and you say, oh, probably these are the stuff that I do on a daily basis or maybe a weekly basis.
(11:31) Categorize that. Work, family, personal, going to the gym, eating, etc. Then you have to decide (11:42) which one I will do, which one I will basically outsource or maybe delegate, (11:49) and which one I will trash.
Something that you have to stop. You know, eventually, (11:56) you may think that by having five hours, you may be much more productive. But it just takes usually (12:03) 30 minutes to be productive and give you that deep, present concentration to do what you want.
(12:13) Now, I one time coached a guy and the guy came to me, I mean, among others. And the first thing that (12:23) this person said is that, Saeed, I don't have time. I honestly don't have time.
And it wasn't (12:30) basically about doing any entrepreneurship, but it was about time. So I told him, why you don't (12:36) have time? He said, I'm busy. I'm doing this. I'm chasing this. These guys are not really productive. (12:43) You know, the first thing that happens when you basically admit that you have a problem (12:47) is that you start blaming and throwing the problem to someone else.
I said, okay, perfect, man. (12:55) Let's basically look at your time today. And then when we looked at the time, the guy is a (13:02) micromanager.
Oh my God, he was basically literally doing everything by himself. So (13:10) naturally, you're not going to have time. So we managed to get away from one session, (13:17) around 30% back of his time, 30%.
Because he basically worked on it, and he started delegating (13:25) much more. But it took him a little bit of time to basically get comfortable with delegating. (13:30) But he basically got more time.
So it's always about quality than quantity. (13:36) The third principle is something that I feel is much more important than principle number one and (13:41) principle number two. And it's the easiest thing.
You know, when you want to do something, (13:51) communicate that journey, especially for those who you care about and who are waiting for you (13:58) after work. Tell them what you're trying to build, get them excited, make them part of the process. (14:07) You know, I also do that when I go through a change management at work. I make everyone (14:14) part of that process. Because when you communicate the journey, when you communicate (14:19) what you're doing, and why are you doing it and what it means, they're going to understand you (14:27) better. And this is the most important thing.
And naturally, you know what will happen? (14:31) They will support you. You know, you know, you should be like, Hey, listen, (14:38) I will really be busy in the next, I don't know, one month, or two months or three months (14:45) with someone who you care about, or they care about you. You know what will happen? You are (14:52) going to be really surprised.
You know, you're going to be really surprised because what happens (14:56) is that ultimately, you may have that meal waiting for you at home. For me, if basically, (15:02) I get home tired, if I get that cheeseburger, that for me is a gift that I will not forget. (15:12) So it's all about communicating that journey.
So keep that in your mind. This is the most (15:17) important thing. And it's the most accessible thing.
The fourth principle and the last one (15:23) is, you know, when you go through so many things, you're going to basically need energy. (15:29) And energy is the most important thing that you would really require. You know, I'm not going to (15:37) give you advices on what to eat or what to do and all that, but I'm going to leave you with something (15:42) at the end of the day.
Journal, I'll tell you why that important, because you're going to basically (15:48) sit down and say, I have spent my time today, doing this, and doing this and doing thing and (15:54) you have like three main categories in a day. Work, fulfilling your dream and your family. (16:01) And then you'll be like, okay, how did I manage my energy? Did I basically put it more at work (16:07) and I ignored my family? When you journal at the end of the day, or maybe in the morning, (16:15) but I advise it to be much more in the evening.
Why? Because you're going to have that peace of (16:19) mind and you're not going to be thinking when you sleep because you're going to do it much more (16:25) better tomorrow. And that's the most important thing. When you wake up in the morning, you are (16:31) going to be like, probably that's how I'm going to tackle the day.
You're going to schedule it much (16:36) more better and then your energy will be distributed much more better. And then if you haven't fulfilled (16:45) your family yesterday, today you're going to do it much more better. All right.
And that's how you (16:54) manage your energy much more better. So here is a question for you. Who in your life deserve the (17:05) attention more today, right now as we speak? And what small boundary can you set this week or maybe (17:16) today to protect that relationships? You know, dreams are amazing, especially those nice ones, (17:25) not a nightmare.
They're really sweet. And when you basically share that dream with someone, (17:32) especially those who you care about, it becomes much more sweeter. Let me be honest with you.
(17:41) Those four principles, they really are part of a process. You will have to experiment between (17:49) principle one, two, three, and four. You will have to basically test and see what works and what (17:56) doesn't work.
And that's why when you journal at the end of the day, you will know exactly what to (18:03) change, what to keep and what to focus on. So think of it as a process and then see what really works (18:13) for you. And always remember, you know, balance doesn't mean like when you have three things, (18:21) it's like 33%, 33%, 33%.
Sometimes balance could be 5% and then I don't know what's the remaining, (18:32) but you get the point. It's not like equal. It could be one time more in this specific thing, (18:38) but tomorrow it could be much more less or much more higher in this specific vertical.
(18:45) And it's all about being intentional at the end of the day. You can't really have a perfect (18:49) harmony between the three or between your family, work and all that. It doesn't really work in life (18:55) because there are so many variables when it comes to that.
And it doesn't mean being at home 24 (19:01) hours with your partner also, because listen, they're going to just get bored. Your family will (19:06) be like, get out, man. We don't want you to be at home because you're just being there forever.
(19:11) They also need their life. They need to basically pursue their dream as well. (19:16) So think of it as sometimes it's going to be higher, sometimes it will be lower. (19:22) All right. So here is a reminder for you. Don't just build your dream.
Build (19:32) satisfaction at work and build relationships because this is the most important thing. (19:40) You will enjoy it and they will enjoy it with you when you build your dream. (19:45) All right.
If this episode spoke to you very much, please share it with someone who you might (19:55) need it the most. At YouAb, we believe leadership doesn't really start at work. It always starts (20:06) from home.
And success is hollow without those beautiful connections you have at home. (20:14) All right. Until next time, keep growing and keep building and keep loving.