I deeply admire and am inspired by business owners.

They take a chance….make a leap….to create something from nothing. To take the untravelled path, taking a chance and a risk, no matter how calculated…there’s always some degree of risk.

As the business grows from start-up to an established business, typically people are hired or contracted and the team grows. More people benefit from that business’ existence. Not only the customers buying the product/service and the people who are employed or contracted, but there are the spin-off effects of that.

Somebody’s child gets to play soccer that year. There’s a family vacation. There’s a charity that gets a donation or even a larger donation. A spouse that gets to have the freedom to then choose their own career path. The spin-offs are endless…..as long as that business does well.

We all benefit directly or indirectly from those ‘small’ businesses starting, growing and thriving. (A Small Business is defined as a business with employees 1-99: source Statistics Canada)

Yet, the challenges many of them face are…

Time, Stress and Money

These three power-hungry forces show up everywhere. They’re sneaky and like to assert their power over everything.

And, when it comes to running a business, this is no exception.

And, every business has had to deal with these power vortexes at some point. Some have battled back and have asserted their control over the 3 forces…and others are still battling valiantly.

The analogy of a ‘battle’ can be fitting because when you’re dealing with lack of time, lack of money and an overabundance of stress, it can feel like an uphill battle to grow your business.

The fatigue, the overwhelm, and loss of confidence can be crippling to a small business owner who has big dreams and wants to provide a secure financial future for their family.

So, we need to shift the power dynamic.

We need to rise up and establish who’s boss….a rising of the defenders and protectors of sanity, confidence, and calm presence. An anti-dote, if you will, to the power-hungry forces that want to dominate.

I don’t know about you, but recently, I’ve been witnessing a number of people who’ve been feeling stressed and very tired. It’s a busy time of year. And, it can bring out feelings that sometimes lay dormant throughout the year. It can be an emotional time for many.

On top of that, you’re running your business and you’re dealing with everything that normally lands in your lap but you also have the added commitments that go along with the Holiday season.

I’d love to have a magic ingredient that could take this all this away for you and transform it into a feeling of peace, ease, and comfort for you.

What I will do is share some thoughts that I hope may support you.

This isn’t a post about time-blocking or using your out-of-office responder strategically. While these can be effective strategies to put boundaries around your work, what I’m talking about here is a step before all of that.

First off - Is the work you’re doing…. the RIGHT work?

I can hear you saying – yes absolutely!

Before you exit out of this page, I want to challenge you to really think about that.

Are you doing the work that will move you towards your goal?

What makes someone successful in their career or business?

If you were to ask several people about their key to success, you'll get a lot of different answers (many of them about strategies and tactics), but what I've noticed is that a few consistent responses tend to surface.

It can happen to any of us, getting to that point in our career where we don’t know what to do next. And then suddenly, that lack of direction can turn into the feeling of being stuck.

I find the tipping point in going from ‘exploring options’ to ‘stuck’ is when we let fear drive the ‘career path’ bus.

This idea of reconnection and career came up recently in a video I recorded about identifying a purpose and creating a greater connection to the work you do.

This is a BIG topic.

Have you ever heard this one before?

‘If you’re not uncomfortable, you’re not growing’

I personally don’t like this sentiment at all. But I get the idea behind it.

It's knowing what needs to be done in your business or in your career, but you just can't make yourself do it….

I've been asked many times by clients, "How do you shut everything off at night?", "Even when I'm not at work, I'm at work!".

There are three things I most often recommend to help with this:

When it comes to looking for new opportunities within your company or organization, it really comes down to two things - who knows you and who knows what you are capable of. In other words, it comes down to exposure.

Often I hear from clients that come to see me is that they feel 'stuck'. They feel stuck in their job or career and they have no idea what to do about it.

Having systems in your business is like having healthy eating habits...once they're established they contribute to longevity, vitality and create a solid foundation for great things to happen - such as growth in your business.

If you were to take a survey of Business Owners and ask them why they went into business, many would say one of their top reasons was for flexibility and freedom.

However, when the business gets going and you are juggling all the different roles, it feels like you have everything BUT flexibility and freedom. 

This chance encounter was not so 'by chance'. And, it reinforced a concept that I learned early on in my sales career...

I've been in a number of conversations with professionals/business owners who want better for themselves - who are striving to put their talents and skills to better or more constructive use, who want to feel fulfilled each day, or who want to step into their own leadership skills and lead with confidence.

This power is not to be underestimated.

Your Intention can make profound things happen. It can create changes or actions that may feel small at the time but can have a big impact on how your life events unfold.

I've been thinking about the relationship between intent and behaviour.  

In life, so many of us have goals - to eat better, to increase our exercise, to be present at home more...

I'm guessing you can relate to the idea of intending to eat well and then making a poor choice of snack. Or, intending to get more sleep, yet, making the decision to check your social media accounts late into the night.

When it comes to your business or career, we also set goals and then find ourselves making poor decisions that don't get us close.....

I always find it interesting to look at our behaviours towards those goals because it tells us what our relationship is to them, and it can reveal something deeper at play....

We are a culmination of our experiences and environment.

We are the main protagonist in our story. We hold on to our stories of who we've been and they become our identity.

But, what happens when a part of our story no longer serves us? What happens when we hold onto a part of our story that actually limits our future growth and success?

I've noticed that when we plan to accomplish a goal and create our actions, there's a piece missing that can de-rail so many of us.  Setting the goal and determining how we'll get there is only a piece of the puzzle...

Accounting for that 'thing' that has the potential to de-rail us could be an important component of your next goal setting and action planning exercise.....