Are you a business owner? Do you believe the title of this blog? Is it OK to slow down?
When was the last time you were in a situation where you were the victim of bad timing?
Maybe you can identify with the past 10 days I have had.
I have been over extended in several ways. Can you relate to a few, none, all?
Here are a few things that have been going on all at the same time...
I have had new people starting, I'm expanding the office and negotiating a lease, I have two projects that are time sensitive and require advanced coding only I can do, I am moving off of several SaaS platforms with terms that are all due this month, dealing with time senstive administrative matters.
I was so overwhelmed when it all started piling up I wrote it all down. My must do list is normally under 20 items. For the past two weeks it has been over 50 items. And don't forget I can't take my eye off of getting results for my clients, and I can't ignore my business development cycle. Those things come first or you go out of business. It's that simple.
How do you deal with having time sensitive administrative issues, while maintaining the best product for your clients, and continue to manage your sales pipeline.
What I noticed is that I worked long hours early on and they paid off. However I continued to work long hours. When I was twenty I could do this without much consequence. I wasn't married, I didn't own a house, I didn't have kids, I didn't have a business. Life was simpler.
Now that I am 40 the life stuff is there too, and I am just older.
My will to work long hours for many days is still there. But the levee breaks.
So things were rockin and rollin the first 5 days. The second 5 days things changed. I started getting fatigued. I was off my square and still trying to do it. But I had to be a tough guy. I started acting like my father who still insists on cleaning his own gutters on his roof even though he is in his mid 70's.
The effects of the strains started to show in many areas. I started to misread emails. This affected my responses. I missed some meetings. I was on the defensive. It got to a boiling point yesterday.
And today I read a comment by Carole Mahoney on Peter Rastellos blog. She said this.
"Sometimes a rock bottom impact has to happen for real change to happen. Until we get mad enough and are willing to say "I'm not going to take this anymore!", then at that point, we are willing to do whatever it takes to make it change. Until the status quo becomes uncomfortable, nothing happens."
She was relating it to a different matter but it resonated and inspired me this morning to slow down and clear my agenda for the day. Immediately it was really refreshening. Whatever seeds I sowed under fatigue, I can take on today with no other distractions.
So today it starts with this blog. I haven't done so in 10 days because I've been burning the candle at both ends. If you find this useful please let me know. It's been worth it already for me to put these thoughts together and start the day with the right footing.
I am back on my square because I slowed down.
Can you slow down? Do you own your "business stuff" or does it own you?
If you are a happy warrior business owner, and face similar challenges, I would love to connect with you. Just schedule me or drop me a note on LinkedIn.
