THE DANGER IN FAILING TO UNDERSTAND THE VALUE OF YOUR OWN TIME

The deadliest consequence in any business is owner’s failure to understand value of his or her own time. Even a thriving business can die under weight of an owner who does not place proper value on his or her own time.

Some owners work long hours for little return because they do not understand their own value. Some of these owners will eventually quit their business for a job that could provide a higher living wage. Others, while thriving, may keep themselves doing tasks that can be and should be done by others. Sometimes, business owner wants to believe that he or she alone can do task, or they want to do things they most enjoy.

In end, these folks fail because important tasks that should have been done for purpose of growing business or meeting demands of business have gone undone. The business collapses because they did not take care of most important facets of their business.

PLANNING, GOAL SETTING AND MEASURING COULD CHANGE YOUR FUTURE

PLANNING will permit you to see where you want to go and how you hope to get there.

GOAL SETTING permits you to make certain specific determinations about your business. One such goal that should be set early and regularly is level of income that you want to derive from your business.

MEASURING lets you see true state of your business at any one point in time. Measuring at regular intervals lets you see a moving slide show that will deliver an honest picture of continuing state of your business.

Additional measuring will permit you to see how much your time could be worth and how much you are really paying yourself. Your measurements should also permit you to put a cost on specific tasks and functions that are required in operation of your business.

MAKING THE RIGHT DECISIONS

If amount that you want to be paid and could be paid is higher than cost of doing task that you are doing, then you should wisely consider having someone in your employment handle task.

Properly managing tasks and delegating work at hand can make or break your business. Make correct decisions and you will be treating yourself better than average small businessperson.

I wish you and your business very best.

The Encyclopedia of Associations is a goldmine if you’re looking for an association related to your passion. With luck, there will be a local chapter you can contact. You can find that at your local library. To find out more about Encyclopedia of Associations, visit: http://library.dialog.com/bluesheets/html/bl0114.html. You can also find it at your local public library.

Also, I’m an advocate of reading. A lot. Network, find mentors, have a plan, have someone hold you accountable, avoid distractions, and revisit these ten questions. :) I believe it was Jim Rohn who said, “When your ‘why’ [you want to do or have something] is clear, then ‘how’ becomes clear.”

6. How is my negative self talk creating emotional blind spots in my ability to "really go for it?"

Because of my many varied interests, I had this self- perception of being “Jill of all Trades but Mistress of None,” so records that played in my mind were, “No way can I be positioned as an expert.” In talking with others and writing about all that I knew, I realized how much that self-talk was holding me back.

Common statements I’ve heard from some of my former students were: “I’m not good enough.” “I’m too old,” “I’m too young,” “No one will hire me because I’m too fat,” etc. Addressing this involves a different dialogue with yourself and surrounding yourself with positive people who can appreciate your unique gifts. When that negative inner- voice tries to sneak in, try reframing your statements with a more positive spin. For example, “I can’t do this!” could be reframed as, “I just need to practice more. Then I’ll be able to do this.”

7. How does my inability to focus create a "choke point" in my process?

Analysis paralysis can be so debilitating! Take it from someone who suffered from it for years! It seemed to be compounded by fact that I had so many interests that were seemingly unrelated to each other, and especially unrelated to degrees I chose to get in name of being practical. Journaling, brainstorming on paper first and then with people I trusted did wonders.

8. How does my upbringing send me messages that "this will never work?"

If people you respect told you it was best to be 100% practical and conventional but your dreams lean toward opposite, then you are probably wondering if you should bother. Or maybe you were less fortunate, and had people who were perpetually negative. It’s hard to thrive in that kind of environment unless you have an amazing amount of inner strength from get-go. Again, if your center of influence is filled with positive, supportive people rather than negative people, it can make all difference.

9. How is my belief system getting in way?

This ties a lot into upbringing issue, negative self-talk, and to some extent, fear issue above. I heard a speaker recently say, “A belief gets its strength from evidence (your life experiences) that supports it.” What starts as an idea can become a conviction.

As an artistically, musically, mathematically inclined eccentric, I got called weird a lot in high school. So one of beliefs that really stayed with me for years was, “Eccentric people will never fit in.” I now embrace my uniqueness regardless of what majority believes. What are some of beliefs that you hold that may be getting in your way?

10. How do I recover when life keeps throwing me curve balls?

Rest! Be kind to—no, SPOIL yourself. If you need to vent, I say go for it, but choose whom you vent to carefully. Not everyone appreciates a good rant. My journal, I’ve found, is safest place to do it. Treat these curve balls as learning experiences, then get right back on that horse and try again.

I heard something that really inspired me from speaker Jim Stovall. He said (paraphrased), “We live up to expectations of ourselves or what we allow others to expect of us… That big dream wouldn’t have been put inside you if you didn’t have capacity to do it. Change your life by changing your mind.”

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