We’re staring down the barrel of the new year and several Direct Sales companies have either gone into shut down or have begun readying their sales force for the January clearance specials. Wherever you are in your business, chances are good you’ve got to omuch of the wrong things going on right now.

Companies are striving to end the year in the black, but are you?

It’s not uncommon (especially with the current state of the economy) to see companies “pushing” sales forward, and moving up the dates of their special offers in an attempt to close more sales in this calendar year. That’s why you see Halloween merchandise on clearance before October’s even over. That’s why you’re already seeing Valentine’s Day merchandise in the stores when it’s not even January yet!

Real businesses keep an eye on their profits, their income and their expenses, but do you?

Here are three signs that you’re working too hard (and at the wrong things) in your direct sales business – and how to fix them:

3 signs you’re working too hard in your direct sales business – and what to do about it

1. You’re scrambling to collect your financial data from the first half of the year. If this is you, most likely you have not started taking your business seriously. A real business has a system for tracking all financial details. You can keep this simple by depositing all your income into a single account and using a debit card to track all your transactions from that account. A tool like freshbooks or mint.com can import your financial data and help you get an at-a-glance look at your financial picture any time of the year. Remember, the biggest difference between a tax bill and a tax refund is what your finances look like on December 31!

2. You’re wrapping up December, and have nothing on your calendar for January or February. Believe it or not, this is not a sign of laziness, it’s actually a prequel to working way too hard in January. If this is you, you’re not on the stick with your host training or follow-up. Let’s be clear. It’s not host coaching. It’s host TRAINING, and its up to you to train them. When I coach my clients, I always tell them that people will treat you the way you train them to – by what you expect of them, or what they expect from you. I encourage my clients to always have their calendar booked 60-90 days out, so that there’s no scrambling for business. Anytime you need to work from a place of desperation, people can smell it on you. Develop a simple follow-up system (The Client Angel has affordable tools to make this happen), and bookings become a breeze. In fact, with a working follow-up system, you could take the entire month of December off without guilt because your January calendar would be full!

3. Your family doesn’t know what you look like anymore. If you’re sitting down to the dinner table for the first time all season, and your family doesn’t recognize your face, you’ve fallen prey to one of the worst signs of working too hard: Your life is out of balance. Now balance doesn’t look like the scales of justice, so get that image out of your head. Two of my favorite inscriptions in “The Secret Watch” are “work when it’s time to work, play when it’s time to play” and “the best gift you can give is attention and time.” If you’re not actively making a plan for your life that includes work time and play time, you’re doing it wrong. Likewise, you can’t plow all your time and energy into your family and neglect your business. The only way to effectively create balance in these areas is to be intentional and proactive about defining success on your own terms in what I call the 5 Key Areas of Success (Faith, Family, Fitness, Fortune, and Freedom). If you neglect any one area long enough, it will suffer. Don’t just take what you can get in your life and business (that’s acting from a place of desperation, remember?). Instead, decide what you really want, what really matters, and go after it with fervor.

Do you recognize yourself in these warning signs? What are you doing to be more intentional about growing a noble empire and living an inspired life?