Your business is a success, but are you still having fun?

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I’m hearing an increasing number of business owners I know say things like: “It’s harder than it used to be,” or “The business isn’t as much fun as it once was,” or simply, “I’m tired.”

If this sounds like you, consider two major factors that are likely at work before you do anything rash.

First, the world is different. Increasing competition, rapid market changes, mind-numbing regulations, and unceasing connectivity can fatigue even the most hyper-charged entrepreneur.

If you feel like it’s harder and more complicated than ever to make your business succeed, that’s because it is.

Second, you’re different. While our core values and personalities don’t change dramatically through our lives, the ways we express them do, and our goals certainly change.

As an example, early on in our careers income may trump other reasons we work. Once we’ve paid off the graduate school loans, put our children through college and paid off the mortgage, other values such as flexibility, a different lifestyle and contributing to causes we believe in may be more important than maximizing our income.

The roles from which we get the most satisfaction may also change. By the time we’re in our 50s and 60s, mentoring others is often more important than being the star performer, which may have been a priority in our 20s and 30s.

Layer on top of this the fact that most entrepreneurs have high achievement motivation; they feel most satisfied when they set and meet a substantial challenge. Human psychology is such that we get diminishing emotional returns from simply repeating prior successes. It’s likely the sense of accomplishment you got from starting your business, growing it or turning it around dwarfs the satisfaction that comes from getting your business through yet another year of a slightly bigger bottom line.

A few tactics can help business owners get their mojo back. People lose perspective and optimism when fatigued. So take a break. A real one. Bill Gates may be the most famous business person who consistently took off for “think weeks” by himself, but others including Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs found value in this practice.

Then revisit the mission of your business. Why did you start it or take it over in the first place? Is the purpose of your business still worthy of you devoting a majority of your time to it? If not, change it so that it is, or plan to move on to other work that is compelling.

Finally, change your role to suit changing circumstances. Business owners I’ve worked with have found increased satisfaction by making changes including: creating a COO role in their company so they could focus more on strategy as the CEO; stepping down as CEO to become chairman; or simply restructuring work roles to do more of the work they love.

After all, given the amount of time you spend on your business, if you’re not having fun, why are you doing it?

Eric Gundlach is president at Baltimore-based The Gundlach Group LLC, a management consulting firm.