Boundaries Are Badass

March 24, 2021

Boundaries in business help you live a more fulfilling life.

As a coach, I believe a healthy work-life balance is crucial. And boundaries? They help you achieve that.

If you’re looking around thinking, “Boundaries? What are those…” You’re not alone. Many designers and creatives don’t have them because society doesn’t support them.

But that’s changing. People are slowly learning the reason boundaries in business are badass. They allow you more freedom and time to lead the lifestyle you desire.

If you’re here to learn more about boundaries, why they’re important, and how to set them so a healthy work-life balance is possible for you, you’re in the right place. Let’s dive in!

What are boundaries?

A boundary is a set of expectations or guidelines to protect your time and energy. According to The Holistic Psychologist, one of my favorite Instagram accounts right now, these guidelines we create in our business are shaped by our childhood and life experiences.

If you feel unprepared or unsure of how to set clear guidelines that protect you, it’s not your fault. I like to think of setting boundaries as a skill you learn (so don’t feel bad if you didn’t learn it). Say you put others before yourself when you were a child and you were rewarded for it. This can manifest into people-pleasing and over-delivering for clients as an adult.

Let’s talk more about what happens when you don’t set clear expectations for where you invest your time and energy, specifically when it comes to your business.

What does a lack of boundaries look like?

At its core, a lack of boundaries is about not feeling worthy of love or attention. You may also feel like you have to earn it to deserve it.

This gets you stuck in a loop of people-pleasing. You feel like you have to bend over backward for people and sacrifice your own needs for others.

So you do.

You stretch yourself too thin. You work 24/7, think about your projects and business on the weekends, and never take any off time off. You don’t check in with yourself, your goals, your values, or your feelings.

I want to let you in on something. Not only are you stifling your creativity and wellbeing, but you’re also not living your life.

But it’s not your fault. Patterns like this are created over time from your parents, peers, and society conditioning you – you must follow their rules or you feel bad.

It’s time to change that.

If you started your design business to lead a more fulfilling life and you’re struggling with a healthy work-life balance, you’re missing something. Could it be self-care and the freedom that boundaries give you?

How do boundaries protect me?

When you set a boundary in business, you create expectations and guidelines for a client relationship. Think of it like an energetic exchange where you’re clearly communicating how much time and effort you can put into something.

Boundaries take you from burnt out and overwhelmed to balanced and fulfilled. Remember the story about how I used to take on design projects that went out of scope and I was never compensated for the extra work when I started my business? Well, this was because no one taught me how important it is to protect my time, energy, and emotional wellbeing.

It’s important for many reasons:

You lower your self-worth by consistently putting your clients’ needs before your own.
You risk legal trouble if you do work without a contract.
You lose your sense of freedom by not setting time aside for office hours.
You feel frustrated when you set standards that you keep lowering.
You experience burnout if you check your emails at all hours of the day/week.
You dull your creative spark by always being “on.”

In the long-term, this behavior doesn’t help you, your clients, or your business. It’s destructive, leaves you vulnerable, and prevents you from living how you want to live. Ready for my advice on how to become a boundary-setting badass?

How to be a boundary-setting badass

Louise Hay writes, “Boundaries are a necessary part of self-care, just like washing your hair or wearing shoes to protect your feet. They are healthy, normal, and necessary.”

She’s right. Boundaries are also only possible when you understand yourself and where you want to invest your time. If you want a better work-life balance, boundaries are a tool to help you achieve it!

And when you set them, stick to them! Consistency is important because it helps other people understand where you stand. It also raises your self-esteem because you’re stating what you want and sticking to your word.

Here’s what consistent boundaries can look like for you:

Saying no to clients that don’t align with your mission
Setting a minimum price for projects
Limiting your screen time or social media use over the weekend
Turning on “Do Not Disturb” during work hours
Requiring a deposit upfront (I ask for 75%!)

It comes down to this: Know yourself. The boundaries you set stem from this and look different depending on what you want for your business.

Ready to go from #StarvingArtist to design business badass with all the freedom you desire? Download the free Business Badass Masterclass and you’re on your way to becoming a business badass!