It's amazing to see so many people who are prepared to sacrifice their lives for the sake of their business. I'm sure you know of someone like that. They get up at the crack of dawn, drag their weary bodies out of the house and head off for another rollercoaster ride at work. Ten or twelve hours later they head home totally exhausted with all their energy sapped from their body.
patient with laptopThey might make the effort to find out how the rest of their family's day has been, even read their children a bed-time story. Finally after having something to eat, taking a hot shower or bath, they then veg out on the couch. They immerse themselves in the newspaper (again) or watch the news or some mindless television show (if they don't fall asleep beforehand).
Of course there are many others that never switch off. They spend the minimum amount of time with their family and then race off into their home office and keep working until they can't keep their eyes open...what a life!
I made a follow-up call to a gentleman who initially had contacted me earlier this year. He was interested in getting coached as his business and his life was in turmoil. Bill has run his own accounting practice for many years with 3 employees. There were many issues affecting the situation he was currently in and one major one was the fact that he never had the time together with the right knowledge to work 'on' his business.
He never invested any time or energy in making his business better. Sure he attended 'professional development' days run by for his industry but these were on technical aspects of being an accountant...tax matters etc. He lacked business and life skills - how to run his business effectively and profitably.
One of his key headaches was attracting and retaining good people. His health was also suffering from the stress and the fact that he never did anything to invest in his personal well-being.
Being a procrastinator, Bill didn't go ahead with coaching...he did what he's always done - he puts things off. I followed up with him a few weeks later to see how he was going and you know what happened? I'd just caught him as he was heading out the door...heading into hospital for bowel surgery! This was one situation he couldn't put off or say he didn't have time for.
Identify what you want to change in your business and your life and if you are serious about changing, take the necessary action and start right now! You don't want to be like Bill who was so entrenched in his 'busyness' that he contracted bowel cancer.
The Final Word
It's so easy to get caught up being busy in your business and not pay attention to effectively managing your people... your no. 1 asset.
Lorraine Pirihi, The Productivity Queen is the creator of “The Productivity and Profit System” the complete one-on-one training program for solopreneurs and small businesses.
She's a productivity expert, leading business coach, author and speaker with straight-shooter, no-fluff strategies that really work.
Lorraine specialises in helping entrepreneurs to organise their time, master their marketing and stay on track with efficient systems so they make much more money and have a life!.
For your complimentary audio CD “10 Habits of Highly productive and Profitable People" VALUED AT $47 for a limited time only go to http://www.productivityqueen.com.