Paul Conley

Start a Side Business Not a Side Hustle

I was doing fine.Good actually. About 71 out of 100.I lived in a great city, had just gotten married, bought a house, and had a good career. On paper, everything worked.But I kept asking myself, is this it?Go to work. Come home. Eat dinner. Do it again. Nothing was wrong, but something was missing.So I started exploring. I hired a coach. We focused on my career because surely that was the problem.It wasn’t.What I wanted was freedom. To do what I wanted, when I wanted to do it.So I started building on the side using the skills I already had, working with clients. It stayed small because I was scared.Then my son was born. January 23rd 2024. I knew one day I would tell him to live up to his potential. I also knew the question he’d ask me back:"Why didn’t you?"So we made real decisions. We chose the life first and then figured out the revenue.Now almost daily the version of me from 4 years ago reaches out to me. Successful dads. Comfortable. Doing well. Knowing and wanting more.Here’s what I know:71% isn’t failure. It’s postponement  The work you actually want.The business you keep thinking about.The time you want back.The Dad your kid grows up watching.I help high-achieving dads stop postponing, ask the real questions, and take action on the thing they’ve been putting off.I’d love for you to join High Achievers, it’s a community for Entrepreneurial Dads. The outcome for joining is simple. You’ll become a better Father, Husband, Professional and man.  It’s the High Achiever Promise. PaulP.S. If something here hit, DM me, the stories are the reason I show up on LinkedIn everyday

District Executive Director

Effectively lead a diverse team of 130+ associates and 100+ volunteers in leading a $2.8M operation. 
•	Led the Tampa market in sales in 2019 and improved sales by 15% YTD.
•	Fundraising of $300K cumulatively and highest fundraising year in 2021. 
•	Increased revenue by 10% in 2019 and improved net margin position by 8% YTD.

When my 3 year old called me out after a long day at work, “We ate without you because you came home late … again,” my world crumbled.

I started wondering if it was worth missing out on my kids’ lives in order to have a good job, squeezing out every extra dollar of income to “enjoy” our lives.

If I was honest, I wasn’t enjoying my life - I felt like all I was doing was working and paying bills.

Yes, my kids had nice sneakers, but it hardly seemed worth it.

I was riddled with mom and wife guilt.

Yet, I kept pushing through because I felt pressure to live up to my privilege as a doctor and also fulfill my greatest earning potential because I was the sole breadwinner.

That comment from my 3 year old made it clear that I wasn’t the only one suffering - it was all of us and it was time to change.

I felt like I was playing small, living at 5% which meant I was failing and I started to feel resentful.

That comment made me take a step back and do the math on what living at 100% could look like.

I knew I could have it all if I chose it. 

Experiences as a family. 

A great relationship with my husband.

Time with my kids so they knew they were seen, heard, and loved.

A career that allowed me to serve my patients and community.

And… time to take care of myself.

It was clear, living at 5% didn’t meet my expectations of this lifetime. 

I had created this 5% life and I was ready to make different choices to create my 100% life.

I set boundaries with my schedule at work, my husband, my kids, and myself to carve out time and effort for each so that each part felt at 100%.

I forgave myself for my previous choices that put me at 5% and leveraged the lessons to make better choices into my future.

I gave myself space to live for myself - putting my oxygen mask on first so that I wasn’t desperately gasping at the end of the day, being no good to anyone, especially myself.

It took intention, hard conversations, and digging deep into figuring out what I really wanted from this life, and it was worth it.

From discussions with fellow female healthcare colleagues, I know that my situation was common.

What isn’t common is doing something about it. 

If you are ready to live a 100% life by your standard, let’s hop on a call:

taplio

The Battle

Paul Conley

Dr. Stephanie Stoddart, MBA

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