Part V:
Set realistic goals.
And by this I don’t mean that you have to “settle,” but I do mean that you can choose to resist damaging your body by making an attainable plan instead of filling your life with everything possible until you reach your breaking point. 
In our farm internship program we spent a good amount of time talking with our flower-farmers-in-training about making a business plan right from Year One. Having a plan gives you direction and keeps you on track if you have leanings toward procrastination, but it also helps you control yourself if you have unchecked ambition.

There is so much hope for those of us who’ve capitulated to the grind, whether in the flower farming world or in any other realm of (especially *small*) business, and part of that hope for me personally includes the opportunity to impact others for good. I have helped many new farmers learn to grow well, endeavored to mentor them in good business practices, but I also have a desire to help all kinds of business people be wise as they plan their future and to show them by example what good self care looks like. 

In the years since we started making purposeful, careful changes, I’ve seen quality of life go up, cortisol levels plummet.

Remember that every time you say YES to something, you’re saying NO to something else. We all have a finite amount of time… how do you want to spend it?! Saying NO to something good so I can say YES to something eternal is an essential key to pacing myself and being realistic about goals.