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Turn Passion Into Profit As someone who has coached hundreds of business owners, the most important piece of advice I could give anyone going into a business or currently running one would be to find your passion in what you do. Unfortunately, I get to see a lot of business owners who are stuck in their business, so absorbed by the chaos and challenge that they have often forgotten why they even started it in the first place. When I ask them about their business, many reply, “If I knew now what I would have to go through, starting and running this business, I would have never done it!” Likewise, people who hate their careers often say, “I can’t wait till I retire”. Conversely, if you look at people who are incredibly passionate about their business or their careers, the thought of retiring is actually frightening to them. Don’t get me wrong, business is challenging and can suck the life out of you if you let it. The key is having clarity around your values, having a plan and an inspiring vision, and an end goal for your business. I often find that if I can help my clients get clarity on the big picture – the reason or purpose behind their business – suddenly the current challenges seem easy to overcome. This is followed by a renewed passion in the form of focus, drive and creativity. In Victor Frankl’s book Man’s Search For Meaning, the author talks about having a reason or purpose that is greater than the current challenge you’re facing. Human beings can rise and overcome the greatest challenges when there is meaning or a purpose behind it. In the case of Victor Frankl, it was surviving the Nazi concentration camps so he could tell the story and make sure such an atrocity would never happen again. Without meaning we become absorbed and disempowered by the problem. The same applies to business. Business is basically about solving problems until you get to the point where you have tested and measured it so much that you finally have a workable system.
Reconnect to Your Business When working with a business owner to renew their passion, I will often look outside the business – at their lifestyle, health, personal relationships and hobbies. I will also have them write a ‘bucket list’ of the top 100 things they would like to do before they die. They then schedule these activities on their list monthly or bi-monthly. Interestingly, after helping my clients improve their health and reconnect in their personal relationships, there’s often an increase in energy and productivity in the business as well as a greater connection with staff. A great example is when I encouraged a business owner I was coaching take 100 days off a year from his business. He fought me every step of the way but the reason I was pushing this is because I noticed that he was no longer passionate about his business. In fact, it was the biggest cause of frustration in his life and he blamed everything that wasn’t working in his life on his business and his customers. Inside the business, he was micromanaging people and taking his frustrations out on his staff to the point where they were unproductive. Eventually, we got him out of the business, he took a holiday and relaxed. He then joined an art club and learnt how to paint. While he was painting, he started to access different levels of creativity, which sparked new ideas about his business. Those ideas actually doubled his turnover. He worked less, had more balance, set a new goal for his business as well as an end goal, and became inspired. His team noticed the change and started to enjoy being around him because he was happier. He actually started to listen to his staff, and while he was taking time out, his team began to step up to the plate and new leaders emerged. Obviously it was a little chaotic initially, but his team began to take more ownership of their own ideas and have the freedom to implement them. This created more of a ‘buy in’, meaning they became more connected to the business and took more responsibility, and productivity went through the roof. Now, I understand that some sole traders may find this idea hard to swallow and it might be a difficult thing to do, but is it really that challenging? My definition of a successful business is when you could leave the company for two to three months and it would still be operational and profitable. If you can’t do that, then isn’t it just a pair of golden handcuffs rather than a business? If you have a business and you feel stuck, overwhelmed or passionless, stop! Look outside of the business because this is often where the answers can be found. Also, consider the following:
A great question to uncover your values is to ask yourself, ‘In the context of my business or career, what is most important to me?’ Are you meeting those values in your business at the moment? If not, set new goals, change your role or change your lifestyle to get those needs met. You will find that your energy, creativity and passion increase tenfold. I also believe it’s important to have great coaches and mentors who are outside of the business and can listen and provide you with objective feedback. Coaches are great at drawing information out of you that you didn’t know was there, and can be instrumental in holding you accountable to your new plan. This works not only on the business side of the equation, but in all the other areas of your life as well. The key to all of this is balance. I don’t care how busy you are, we all have the same amount of time – after all, time, they say, is the great equaliser. It’s what you do with yours that makes the biggest difference. Often the smallest actions compound over a period of time. For example, allocating 15 minutes per day for your health will drastically increase your energy levels long term. Even something as simple as giving your partner 20 minutes daily of your undivided attention, where you really listen and be present to their needs, will create a happier home life, which will reflect in a happier and more productive business life. Personal development seminars are also a great way to refocus and get inspired. My recommendation is to look at your calendar and notice the times during the year where you believe you’re most unproductive or where there is a flat time in your business. Make it a goal to enrol in a personal development seminar during that time and you might find that you break the trend. Seminars are great for getting new information, setting new goals and gaining inspiration. Or why not start setting some new goals around your business using the goal-setting tool in the Coaching Toolkit included in every issue of emPOWER? This will ultimately reflect in your bottom-line results. People often say they make money when the market is up, down or sideways. In my personal opinion it has everything to do with your psychology – you’re either focusing on what you want or what you don’t want. Be creative, get inspired and think outside the square. -- (Article can be included on your site only if you leave article as is and include authors website and signature.) |
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