Small business owners: where's the LOVE in your work?
"If Stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out?"
-- Will Rogers
"To forget one's purpose is the commonest form of stupidity."
-- Friedrich Nietzsche
Trying to solve problems or find answers with the same set of information that got us "into this mess" in the first place indicates one of several things:
1. We are dangerously insane.
2. We are incredibly irresponsible.
3. We are sadly unaware of our own trailblazing and "off the charts" navigation capabilities.
What only a handful of very successful individuals realize is that, in fact, the current landscape, as perceived by others, is irrelevant as far as you're concerned.
One of the most powerful tools you have is self-knowledge. In the simplest terms, this comes down to answering these basic questions:
- Who am I?
- What am I all about?
- What do I love to do?
- Who do I want to be?
- What's the best way for me to get there?
- Where would I like the journey to take me?
Spend a few moments completing the following. Yes, you! Yes, right now. Find a pencil. I'll wait...
Good. Here we go...
Exercise: List 10 things you LOVE to do. Any context is fine. Use your personal life, professional life, with your family, friends, civic and church groups, anything:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Now review your list and summarize each of these ten items into a 1-word VERB, such as "teach" or "analyze" or "cultivate"
These are ten of your core action words that define you at your best.
How can you bring more opportunities to use these actions into your life? In answering this question, please remember that even a small change can have a huge impact.
You don't need to quit your job in an office in New York and move to a kibbutz in Israel if one of your key words turned out to be "share."
Why don't you share some of what you know with your colleagues? Teach a class, write an article, start a discussion group, create a lunchtime seminar series, or start an interactive message board on your corporate intranet?
So many small business owners are unhappy because the opportunities to use these core actions have evaporated from their lives or have become blocked by schedules filled with "too much to do" and "never enough time."
But stop and ask yourself, "How effective is my mind if my heart and soul are starving?"
And if you don't take care of them, who will?
What have your experiences been in this arena? Please leave a comment below and let's keep the discussion going...