The Art of Small Steps: Balancing Business and Life as a First-Time CEO

Here's my feedback:

Your newsletter has a friendly, authentic tone and covers important insights. I suggest tightening a few sentences for more clarity and flow. For instance, you might revise "what I figured out in a while" to something more direct like "I eventually realized." Also, consider reworking phrases with lists (e.g., "feelings and bodies, and nervous systems, and families...") into more fluid sentences so the ideas connect better.

The transition when discussing your deadline and personal boundaries could be smoothed to reduce some of the repetitive commas. A minor detail: change "ok" to "okay" for a polished feel.

Overall, the copy is engaging and personal, with a strong call to reflect on balancing business with life. The inclusion of Saint-Exupéry's prayer adds a compassionate touch. With just a few tweaks for clarity and conciseness, your newsletter will read even stronger.

Below is your original text with my suggestions in bold:

What do you feel when you hear a CEO title?

What is it about for you?

For me, it was always about power, responsibility, busyness, money, strong character, stamina, and highly developed hard and soft skills. So from the very beginning, since I became the CEO of Olympia, I pushed myself harder and harder every day to develop and learn the right skills, to improve, and to become better at team and time management, partnerships, marketing, project, and product management, you name it.

But what I eventually realized is that sometimes it's even not busyness per se, it's a fuss, "Look at me, I am so cool, I am such a busy CEO here, doing all this stuff!" I started asking myself about the necessity of these tasks I do: is it important or urgent, and how does it help develop my business or contribute to my growth as a first-time CEO? Once, I had a consulting session, where I received advice to stop planning too much, stop all the fuss, and work on the most important stuff, and we always know what it is. It became easier for me as soon as I got rid of the mess of "doing" for the sake of just mere activity. I started making small, but important steps towards my goals, and surprisingly, the pace of my growth increased.

As CEOs, we also tend to forget that we are only humans. With our lives besides work, with a range of feelings , physical needs, nervous systems, and families, and external factors, and health, and flow of life, and hobbies. We play in business so hard and think that we're omnipotent, that one day, when inevitably our system crashes, we remember that we're not machines.

At some point, when business becomes more important than anything else, we lose ourselves completely. And there is something extremely wrong about it, and here's why.

You are not a robot. You won't last long working 24/7. Neither your body nor your family will be okay with it for too long. Or your life partners, or your children, or your friends. And in the end, when there is nothing left but your business, you'll be ready to burn it and forget it like a horrible nightmare. But you won't be able to get people dear to your heart back; your spouse, the time with your kids, your health, and friends. Was it what you wanted when you started your business? Is it worth it?

This week I didn't publish the next episode of The First-Time CEO. I pushed hard through the week while going through a major life transition. I forced myself to stay strong and do everything as planned no matter what. On the day of the deadline, I woke up and had a lightning thought, "Why in the time when I need myself the most, when I need self-love and compassion, and careful planning, and time to process, I push myself even harder? How does it serve me?" Besides, pushing myself means pushing others too. My designer is eight hours apart under missile attacks, and last time she worked till 4 am for me so that I could publish the episode as planned. It is cruelty towards myself and others.

So I gave myself (and us) more time. And love, compassion, and gratitude for respecting my own needs and flow of life. And immediately there was this shift that allowed me to plan my life and work better, and record episodes with time enough for editing and creative work, and promo before the next one. Plus I have time for work on Olympia, and my personal life. There is more air and space in between the tasks, and I can breathe, and stay human.

I'm learning the art of small steps from this sweet prayer written by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry I want to share with you today:

The Prayer of Small Steps

by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Lord, I am not asking for miracles and visions,

I’m only asking for strength for my days.

Teach me the art of small steps.

Make me clever and resourceful,

so that I can find important discoveries and experiences

among the diversity of days.

Help me use my time better.

Present me with the sense of recognizing what is essential and what is secondary.

I ask for strength, self-discipline, and moderation,

so that I do not merely drift through life,

but rather, organize my days wisely,

seeing the best use for each passing moment.

Help me to endure life as it comes,

with the necessary patience and serenity.

Help me to understand that difficulties, failures, and setbacks

are trials that help us grow and mature.

Send me the right person at the right moment,

someone who has the courage to tell me the truth with love.

I know that many problems resolve themselves

if we do not rush them,

so teach me patience.

You know how much we need friendship.

Let me be worthy of the most beautiful and purest of gifts.

Give me enough imagination

to be able to share warmth,

in the right place, at the right time,

with words or with silence.

Spare me from the naive belief

that everything in life must run smoothly.

Give me the clear understanding

that difficulties, failures, and setbacks

are just a natural part of life,

through which we grow and mature.

Remind me that the heart often argues with reason.

Send me, at the right moment,

someone who has the courage to tell me the truth with love.

I do not ask of You perfection, O Lord,

but I ask for that which gives meaning to life.

Help me take small steps

toward the great and eternal goals.

Amen.

So the next episode of The First-Time CEO podcast will be out next week. And for now, I suggest you watch/listen to my previous episodes, if you haven't yet:

The Evolution from CTO to CEO with Kirk Marple, Founder and CEO of Graphlit (ex. Microsoft, General Motors, STATS, Kespry)

SPOTIFY | YOUTUBE | APPLE PODCASTS

From Layoff to Closing $750K in 15 Months with Julia Arpag, Founder and CEO of Aligned Recruitment

SPOTIFY | YOUTUBE | APPLE PODCASTS

From Accidental Marketing Agency to Lead Generating Machine with Marco Mendoza, Founder and CEO of Wizerlink

SPOTIFY | YOUTUBE | APPLE PODCASTS

Last week I also hosted the Olympia demo webinar, where I showed all the features we've developed so far, and demonstrated how our AI teams can help entrepreneurs streamline their operations. If you haven't had a chance to join, feel free to watch it here. Feel free to reply to this email if you have any questions about it or Olympia. Subscribe to our Eventbrite page to keep an eye on the next webinars, where I'll discuss particular use cases in the future.

For more content like this and first-time CEO insights follow me on Substack, Linkedin, and Instagram, and The First-Time CEO show on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts.

If you’d like to be my podcast guest, please fill in this form, and I’ll get in touch should it be a good fit!

Let me know if you need any further adjustments.

Your article flows smoothly with well-connected sections. The progression from personal insights and the CEO role to the importance of work-life balance feels natural, and the gentle transition into reflections with Saint-Exupéry's prayer enriches the narrative.

The calls to action are engaging—they invite your audience to dive into different formats (podcast episodes, webinars) without feeling overwhelming. The CTAs are clear and encourage further interaction without interrupting the overall flow.

Overall, it reads well and invites the reader on a thoughtful journey while maintaining a conversational tone.

The article is in excellent shape. One minor addition could be a brief closing summary that reinforces your core message—maybe a sentence or two emphasizing that self-care is essential for long-term success as a CEO. This could serve as both a takeaway and a final call for reflection.

Here's a closing summary you can add at the end of your article:

In essence, remember that success as a CEO is not just about relentless hustle but also about nurturing yourself. Prioritizing self-care ensures you have the energy and clarity to lead with passion and purpose.

I would paste it as a new concluding paragraph right before the final section with your CTAs. This way, it rounds off your narrative with a clear takeaway before inviting readers to engage further with your content.

Yes, that's a great spot. Placing it right after the prayer will seamlessly wrap up the reflective part before moving into your CTAs.

Your content is being generated and should take about 1 minute to complete.