Are You Running Your Business Or Is Your Business Running You?

Discuss this Article
No responses yet, be the first...

Recently, one of my coaching clients admitted that she was no longer running her business. Rather, her business was running her. The question is how true is that for you? While building a successful business undoubtedly takes time and energy, we can't afford to allow our companies to consume our lives. If we do, we're likely to feel stressed out, or, worse yet, burnt out.

There was certainly a time when I thought "I had" to agree to every request that came my way, as a new business owner. Back then, I believed my "can do" attitude would ensure the success of my business. Unfortunately, the only thing it ensured was a high level of stress that sapped me of energy. Thankfully, I took control of my life and realized that I did, in fact, have choices.

Today, when my clients insist that they "have to" do X or they "can't do" Y, I remind them that they do have choices. This is important because in my experience, one of the keys to de-stressing is the realization that we do have choices about how to spend our time.

The truth is that almost everything in life is a choice, whether you decide to work a 14-hour day or knock off after five hours, whether you choose to spend your lunch hour at your desk, wolfing down a sandwich, or go for a long walk after eating a healthy meal. Sometimes your options may be limited, but in many cases, you have a number of alternatives from which to choose.

Sometimes my clients balk when I suggest that they have choices. I remember one client who was stressed out about a project she needed to complete for a customer within a tight time frame. "If I'm going to get this done, I'm going to have to work 14- hour days for the next week.," she insisted. While I agreed that what she proposed was one option, there were probably others. I encouraged her to consider other choices she could make, and together, we brainstormed some alternative ideas. Instead of working 14-hour days to finish the project on time, she could choose to hand it off to someone else in her company. Or she could collaborate with another team member within her organization. Or she could negotiate another deadline with the client. Or she could work part of a weekend and work shorter days during the rest of the week.

In the end, she chose to collaborate with someone else. But even if she had chosen to work 14-hour days in order to complete the job on schedule, at least she would have made the decision consciously instead of assuming that she only had one choice.

While what I'm describing here may sound like semantic mumbo jumbo to some people, it really isn't. I truly believe that when people take responsibility for the way they spend their time and live their lives, they feel more empowered and less stressed.

So, next time you catch yourself telling someone that you "have to" do something, remind yourself that you do, in fact, have choices. Then, consider what those choices are, and see if you feel a shift in your stress level. The good news is that when we reduce stress, we often feel more energetic, which allows us to be more productive, in general.

Ellen H. Brown

www.wellnessjourneys.com