Reflection
In previous blogs I have written about success coming from passion, persistence and patience, but I also believe you need reflection to ensure you are not working hard, pushing through – without cause.
Media articles are constantly written about how everyone is too ‘busy’ and more recently others that deny the concept of busy as being legitimate! We can’t win.
However, let’s face it, as a start-up business operator, time is a precious commodity. So we really need to ensure we are putting our energy into the things that will pay off for us in the long term.
It’s all so easy to focus on the here and now, working in the business to get the bills paid. But you will never reach the plateau at the top of the mountain unless you work on the business and reflect on the things you can do better, more effectively and efficiently and to get rid of what does not serve you well at all – and that’s the hard part!
If we analyse our business operations we are bound to find, people, systems, processes, products, activities that cost us resources but do not add value. But sometimes it seems easier to persist with them rather than change. That’s where reflection matters.
You need to schedule time to ask yourself why? Really big WHY’S – like why am I in business, and why do my products matter to my customers. We can also ask ‘Which’? Which products, services, and communications channels matter to me and my customers?
And don’t just rely on the anecdotal evidence – crunch your numbers and use data to help you make decisions about change. The more you get rid of those things that do not serve you, the more time you will have to spend on the ones that do.
Take time today to reflect, make it a regular part of your routine. Get rid of busy, get into business.