Why do we lie to ourselves? Do you ever tell yourself lies about your business life? Your personal life? Of course you do. Every small business owner, entrepreneur, executive, manager or sales person on occasion tells themselves little lies to make them feel better in the short term. How often do you truly look in the mirror and face your reality? If you avoid your reality then greater difficulties lie ahead.
Overwhelmed but Empty
What is your ideal future? You need to take the time to write it down your ideal future and make it tangible. But the fact is that you first need to gain clarity about where your life is today both professionally and personally. The lack of clarity about your current situation (the good, bad and ugly) will continue to allow you to fool yourself. Today is the day that you need to paint a clear picture of where things truly are for you. If you continue to lie to yourself you will continue to feel empty.
Build a strong Foundation
You have to understand the truthful foundation that you are on so that you can truly progress to make your business foundation one that can be built on to withstand the rough weather that the world can send your business world. Then you can quit simply thinking day to day but instead you can think about your vision long-term. Or you can choose to run very hard on your figurative treadmill and realize that you aren’t really going anywhere. That results in massive frustration and burnout. You must learn to own the truth about your situation, the good and bad. Don’t hide from your true reality, own up to it so you can start running a race that is truly going to where you want it to go.
Face your Reality by answering these questions
• What do I like and dislike about my business?
• What do I like and dislike about my role as owner?
• If I had to start my business over tomorrow, what/who would I keep and what/who would I let go?
• If someone were to buy my business today, what would scare them (weaknesses/risks) and what would excite them (strengths/opportunities)?
• What is working great in my business that I should leverage (multiply, replicate, etc.)?
• What is broken in my business I need to fix now?
• Am I mainly working “on” or “in” my business?
• Am I functioning like a leader or doer?
• Do I own a real business or simply work a crazy job?
• If I could change one thing about my business, what would it be?
• What are some unresolved issues/”messes” in my business or personal life that need to be cleaned up?
• What is broken in my personal life I need to address now?
• If I could change one thing about my personal life, what would it be?
Start Fresh Today
What do your answers reveal about you, your business and your life? Can you accept the truth of your answers? If so, congratulations. You can now move on to develop solutions based on truth and clarity. Again, as a business owner, try to live by the motto, “Truth Today for a Better Tomorrow.” You won’t regret it!
Business Owner, Travis Thie, shares some of the value the he gleaned from Growth Coach Sioux Falls
