Business owners are famous for being self-sacrificing. Besides the long hours, in many enterprises they're the last to sit down at the table to eat. I spent 23 years as a business owner in specialty retailing and I often read business articles advocating “pay yourself first.” Boy, that seemed easier said than done, and I long considered the advice to be fantasy.
But I came to realize that this philosophy is, first of all, a state of mind. And it is not nearly as selfish as it might appear. F...