Ring Fence The Magic

Hello Iris,

You say you struggle to take consistent action to evolve your business. You're not alone.

Running your own business can be very challenging in ways people don't understand until they try it.

The reality of being your own boss is nothing like the dream. When you're self employed you have to constantly make things happen. It's hard enough keeping it turning over, but making it grow is even harder.

One idea I use a lot with my business clients is the concept of taking time out, from working IN your business to work ON your business. So rather than running on the treadmill, get off it - walk around it, oil it, and find a way to make it run slower.

Easier said than done, and it takes what I call a structural change - so don't just say you'll try to do that, but ring-fence some time each week to do it. That's the structural change.

So - book it in your diary - a meeting with yourself - and then honour that appointment (show up for it) and treat it like a real meeting. When you're in a meeting, you don't answer the phone or the door or the email. You don't check Facebook or surf the web.

If you would find that a challenge, then you might take yourself to a different physical location. Not only is that separating you from the distractions (another structural change), it also offers you the possibility of a different mindset - less stress, the excitement of new business possibilities and a great new future.

That new creative, fun space - visited once a week - is your  engine for business growth. Do the strategic things you always lament in the rest of the week. If this new creative work needs wider actions in the rest of the week, then stitch those in around existing commitments so that they get as much YOU as the other things that you do.

There's so much more I could talk about in here, like the holy trinity - DECIMATE, DELEGATE, AUTOMATE, and building powerful strategies, and climbing out of the crud, differentiating yourself, and so on - but without knowing more about your circumstances, I'd miss the mark.

The Big Idea here today, is to ring-fence some time each week, to get out of your business and to work on it. If you can do that, your stress will go down, your work/life balance will get better, and your business will finally start to get traction and move in the directions you want it to. In other words, you'll be a successful and happy business owner.