Motivate yourself

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 | By Emma Wimhurst

Take a fresh approach to your personal development to kick-start your enthusiasm for your business. The success of every business begins and ends with ATTITUDE and the DRIVE of the person at the top.  

All business success begins with high energy and enthusiasm driven by personal motivation and a willingness to learn, develop and change.    

Business growth depends on it. Unless you feel fully committed, care about what you are doing and have the energy to run the company, your business journey is likely to become an uphill struggle with your health, relationships, business performance, marketshare and credibility paying the price.

Many self-employed people find it hard to know where to draw the line on their working day, especially if they work from home. There is only one answer: plan ahead, manage your time and focus on developing the necessary self-discipline to start and end at set times.

Tidy your desk and close your office door at the end of the working day and make sure you have a balanced life with non-work related activities to do in the evenings. Or relax, enjoy a workout, cook a healthy meal, work on your novel. Whatever it is that fulfils you, that is not connected to your working life, do.

You need to plan for personal development – personal growth comes about only if you are aware that it is necessary. Many people who are unhappy with aspects of their business life are slow to realise that they will need to change something that is familiar in order to transform discomfort into personal happiness and fulfilment.

Making time for your own personal development can be a challenge when commercial considerations seem more pressing; but it is important to have other things in your life to balance your focus on work and business. The rewards will be beneficial personally as well as financially and the benefits will be for others as well as you. The ‘professionals’ that you need to consult, concerning whether you’ve got the balance right, are those who know you best – your friends, family and colleagues.

You are the future of your business – so look after yourself with the same degree of care as you provide to your customers:

• Pay attention – be aware of your levels of productivity. If you are achieving less than you could and you are losing your sense of joy in your work – then it’s either time for a holiday or time to change the way you are working, or perhaps who with

• Stay healthy and manage your wellness – your health is important – to your staff, your family and your livelihood

• Keep in touch – with other people in your industry, with friends, former colleagues and customers. It can be lonely at the top – but only if you isolate yourself. You can share ideas and solutions to problems without giving away your company secrets

• Stay open-minded – only you can know what truly works for you. To parents who are struggling to juggle parenthood with the needs of their work, I say make no assumptions about your ideal work-life balance until you’ve tried different ways of living. Discover your own ideal – taking into consideration time and finances

• Don’t forget your own needs and those of your family.

• Respect your health and wellbeing and schedule ample time during the working week to do things that ignite your energy and passion, not just for your business, but for your life

• Invest in your personal and professional development. Don’t struggle unnecessarily with issues and situations you don’t feel you handle well. Learn how to handle them better.

BOOM! BUSINESS BYTES

•YOU are the future of your business

• Pay attention and become very aware of your levels of productivity

• Stay healthy and encourage respect for wellbeing

• Keep in touch: never too busy to communicate well

• Stay open-minded: only you can know what truly works for you

(Excerpt from BOOM! 7 Disciplines to CONTROL, GROW and ADD IMPACT to YOUR Business by Emma Wimhurst. Published by Diva Publishing. Excerpt published with permission.)  

Emma Wimhurst is an entrepreneur who earned her business stripes with the success of Diva Cosmetics, the company she founded in the late 90s. She sold the business in late 2003, having acquired a staff of 11. Since Diva she has become a motivational speaker, business turnaround expert and mentor.