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One of the most important things when running a lifestyle 

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business is to invest in your people.

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Now when I say your people, I'm not just referring to your employees,

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I'm referring to you as well.

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It's just as important to invest in yourself as it is to people you take home.

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If you do have a team, socialize with that team. Build a team spirit.

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You need to be a group of people that come together and do fun stuff together.

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It shouldn't be all work all the time.

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 Otherwise, you're going to drive each other mad before too long.

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If you're by yourself, I encourage you to get out and meet people. 

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It can be a very lonely and isolating experience running your own business

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and it's so important to hang out with people

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that are in the same situation as you.

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So I encourage you to go and meet up, conferences

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all those kinds of things, any opportunity to hang out

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 with other freelancers and web designers.

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You need to be interacting with other people that are working on the web

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and you certainly need to grab every opportunity that's available.

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Another really important part is to invest in yourself through training. 

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Now you already know this. You see in here, watching this video right now.

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Of course you know that training is important

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but you also need to make sure that all your other

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 members of staff have the opportunity as well.

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I'm also sorry to break it to you that watching 

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Treehouse videos isn't enough by itself.

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There are other things you can do as well.

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You can attend conferences.That's great.

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What about reading some books?

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The most important thing is to set aside time to learn and experiment. 

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For example, I know of many web designers that set 

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aside a day or week for personal projects.

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An opportunity to try out new things and all the stuff

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 that you're learning on courses like this.

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Training is important but so as time to recuperate.

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We push ourselves too hard as business owners.

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Keep working hours under control.

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I know a lot of you love your job, you love playing with the web,

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you love technology, you're a geek at heart 

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but that doesn't mean it's healthy or good for you to be working long hours.

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You need to have generous holidays.

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You need to have interest beyond the web.

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Yes. There are things like real life too. Get out there. Do other stuff.

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Christmas for example. Consider closing down over Christmas.

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Nothing ever happens anyway.

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No work gets done between Christmas and New Year.

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So why bother working?

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Have a life beyond web design.

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It will improve the quality of your work and I'll tell you something else, 

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they'll win you more business.