The Starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat.” Napoleon Hill, American author, 1883–1970.
Is it time to face reality? Do you and your business have problems that require solutions? Very simply, you can’t change what you do not openly acknowledge. Identifying and admitting a problem goes a long way toward solving it.
To begin the transformation and healing process, you need to do some serious reflection. Be brutally honest when you answer these questions:
• Do I often ask, “Why do I have to do every darn thing myself?”
• Am I still working too much and making too little?
• Am I trapped working “in” my business instead of “on” my business?
• Do I ever wonder if business ownership is truly worth the time, effort, headaches, hassles and sacrifices?
• Do I feel trapped on a treadmill, moving faster and faster but going nowhere?
• Do I constantly face frequent interruptions and repetitive questions from my staff?
• Do I go home many nights feeling mentally and physically drained?
• Do I confuse busyness with accomplishment?
• Do I dread the drudgery of facing and solving the same issues and problems each and every day?
Do I daydream about regaining my sense of freedom, joy, pa • ssion and peace of mind?
• Do I have anxiety about drowning in projects, problems, deadlines, crises, meetings, employee issues, unanswered voicemails and emails, customer complaints, administrative trivia and so on?
• Do I feel like a master juggler with too many balls in the air and dreading they’ll soon begin hitting the floor?
• Am I forever chained to a phone, computer, email, or pager?
• Am I tired of having customers rely on me personally for services, solutions and satisfaction?
• Am I fed up with missing family time, family events and making other personal sacrifices on a semi-regular basis?
• Do I crave more free time to do the things that matter the most to me?
Admit to the problem
If you answered yes to most of these questions, don’t feel guilty, ashamed or embarrassed. You’re not alone. Most owners have never learned to be strategic. Role models are scarce. As such, dysfunctional businesses and owners are the rule, not the exception.
Like you, most owners feel they have been sentenced to a life of servitude, and some even suffer from the blues. Unfortunately, because of pride, shame, or ignorance, this sad condition has been kept hidden in the corner office for too long. But you should not have to endure this much discomfort and frustration associated with your business. Starting now, you do not have to live this way! You should not be consumed by your business and frustrated with your life. Stop and think why in the world, as the owner, should you have to touch every transaction, be involved with every decision and help solve every problem? You shouldn’t! It doesn’t make sense. Something is broken! You cannot succeed alone. You don’t have enough hours in a day, or enough energy or bandwidth, to go it alone. Pain is a good indication that something is wrong and needs to be healed!
Realize you aren’t the only one suffering. Think about how your stress and blues are negatively impacting your employees, customers, vendors and suppliers, friends and, if applicable, your spouse and kids. Hear this wake-up call! It’s time to shift radically your business beliefs and behavior. It’s time to expand your view to include new possibilities for managing your business and life. The better your business functions, the better your life will function.
You deserve to be free from the daily grind; after all, you own a business, not a job. You should actually enjoy the journey of developing and running a business and not defer your personal life and happiness until you retire or sell. Live life now! Don’t get so caught up in making a living that you forget to make a life.
If your personal life is suffering because of your company, your leadership approach is misguided and/or your business design is broken!
Right now, admit your business is centered on you and is totally dependent on you. Admit you’re buried to your eyeballs in the details of your business. Admit you’re a slave to your business. Admit that instead of your business giving you greater life, it continues to drain more of your personal time and peace of mind. Admit that while your headaches and hassles grow, your freedom shrinks.
Rick Brines is the owner of The Growth Coach of Chattanooga. He can be reached at 423-886-6095 or R.Brines@TheGrowthCoach.com. v