“Mum, do you know it is Saturday tomorrow?” “Yes” “Well why are you still working at midnight?”
Good question and one for which I did not have, a fitting reply.
Starting up your own business is exciting, breaking away from the 9-5 rat race and dreaming of better things to come without a boss fill many of us with enthusiasm and energy to conquer our piece of the world.
It starts out as a grand adventure, a project that fills your head with possibilities, challenges and wonder.
Then comes the wakeup call – the night your son asks you why you are still at your desk at midnight. A question that you should be able to answer easily, but you can’t because how you can admit you’re struggling to keep up, that you feel out of your depth, that you’ve bitten off more than you can chew and you can’t handle it all?
You can’t even admit that to yourself!
And it is a familiar story, I started out doing it all myself and it stayed that way. But now, in the darkness, where time passes so fast, comes a realisation that things do, indeed need to change. And there’s only one person who can make the necessary changes.
And that’s you.
However you have to wade through a bog of psychological imperatives not to change.
Because even though we’re not happy, we are in familiar ground and our brain loves familiarity.
To do something different requires a new approach, a new way of thinking that will take us on a different road and that requires a lot of courage and a heap of determination. Our brain will fight against those changes with the force of overwhelming questions like:
Where do I start?
How do I get out of here?
Who can help me?
What can I get them to do?
I have no idea how to get out of here – but I can’t stay here either.
Maybe I should just carry on as I am?
Successful leaders learn to let go
Let me tell you why I started out in business and what I really wanted to get from it.
I wanted to use my expertise to help, support and encourage others to shine in their expertise.
And I do do that, but I also do a whole load of other important tasks, including the business admin and organisation. And I know these things don’t have to be done by me.
So I have to figure out what am I doing that needs to be done that doesn’t have to be done by me.
What makes an important task and how could it be done better?
If someone else did it how could I be more productive? Even more important, would I be more productive?
Where do I start?
Then that sneaky old brain throws another couple of challenging questions in the mix for us, to ask is it worth it? After all:
I do it better myself
It will take ages to find someone and train them
What if they get it wrong?
What if we don’t get along?
There are easy ways to circumvent the brain freeze and get past it. Think about how:
Short term training will result in long term benefits
Some people will be better at those tasks I hate than me, because they love to do them and I hate them.
How much more productive I could be with someone working alongside me?
I wouldn’t be working alone any more
I could have Friday nights with the family
The real key in making successful changes is in having someone support you through them as you build that new model for your business, someone to keep you on track when you waver and want to go back to the old familiar uncomfortable way of doing things.
But something made you want to change your circumstances, whatever it was.
Don’t delay, go with it.
For me, I got a wakeup call one late Friday night – have you had yours yet?
Till the next time,
Kind Regards,
Jane Quinn
Director
P.S. One more thing…..don’t keep us a secret, please share this.
Working all the time is not a business it’s a life sentence
“Mum, do you know it is Saturday tomorrow?”
“Yes”
“Well why are you still working at midnight?”
Good question and one for which I did not have, a fitting reply.
Starting up your own business is exciting, breaking away from the 9-5 rat race and dreaming of better things to come without a boss fill many of us with enthusiasm and energy to conquer our piece of the world.
It starts out as a grand adventure, a project that fills your head with possibilities, challenges and wonder.
Then comes the wakeup call – the night your son asks you why you are still at your desk at midnight. A question that you should be able to answer easily, but you can’t because how you can admit you’re struggling to keep up, that you feel out of your depth, that you’ve bitten off more than you can chew and you can’t handle it all?
You can’t even admit that to yourself!
And it is a familiar story, I started out doing it all myself and it stayed that way. But now, in the darkness, where time passes so fast, comes a realisation that things do, indeed need to change. And there’s only one person who can make the necessary changes.
And that’s you.
However you have to wade through a bog of psychological imperatives not to change.
Because even though we’re not happy, we are in familiar ground and our brain loves familiarity.
To do something different requires a new approach, a new way of thinking that will take us on a different road and that requires a lot of courage and a heap of determination. Our brain will fight against those changes with the force of overwhelming questions like:
Successful leaders learn to let go
Let me tell you why I started out in business and what I really wanted to get from it.
I wanted to use my expertise to help, support and encourage others to shine in their expertise.
And I do do that, but I also do a whole load of other important tasks, including the business admin and organisation. And I know these things don’t have to be done by me.
So I have to figure out what am I doing that needs to be done that doesn’t have to be done by me.
Then that sneaky old brain throws another couple of challenging questions in the mix for us, to ask is it worth it? After all:
There are easy ways to circumvent the brain freeze and get past it. Think about how:
The real key in making successful changes is in having someone support you through them as you build that new model for your business, someone to keep you on track when you waver and want to go back to the old familiar uncomfortable way of doing things.
But something made you want to change your circumstances, whatever it was.
Don’t delay, go with it.
For me, I got a wakeup call one late Friday night – have you had yours yet?
Till the next time,
Kind Regards,
Jane Quinn
Director
P.S. One more thing…..don’t keep us a secret, please share this.
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skype: miresponsibility
Email: jane@miworldconsultancy.co.uk
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