Judging by the comments I got from last week’s article where I asked the question “Are you building a business or just a more demanding job?”, quite a few are in the “more demanding job” end of the spectrum!
If you have not seen the blog article I am talking about, have a look here.
Many realise that they are just running so hard to generate income, that they are building an income flow, but not a business.
Hence the subject line for this week – the hamster wheel is burning some amount of rubber!
You see the wheel may be going faster, and also may be becoming a bigger wheel – but it not progressing, it is just going around and around.
Now, I don’t want to mix my metaphors – between my “fur lined mousetrap” I spoke of and the hamster in the wheel – but it is so easy to get busy and not look up to see where the road is taking you.
Many years ago I met the founder and CEO of a very successful, publicly quoted company and he said something to me that I have never forgotten and it is so relevant to what we are talking about here.
Every Monday afternoon, he stayed at home – had no meetings, no phone calls, no email! Absolutely nothing.
He sat with a blank pad looking out the window of his home, which overlooked the sea and just reflected on the direction his business was going in. He captured his thoughts on his notepad.
He told me that this time was the most significant investment in the success of his business – by a mile!
By the way, he learned this from Charles Handy – and always gave Charles credit for this pearl of wisdom.
Alright, I can hear you say – well, he had loads of staff to do the work, so it was easy for him!
If you hear yourself say this – dismiss it instantly. That is only going down the road of being self delusional!
Let me say, by the way, that I have been guilty of this in the past, so I am not exonerating myself.
In my opinion, there are 3 main reasons why we fall into this trap:
- We have a bias for action – we like doing things, like being busy. We love being Action Man and Wonder Woman!
- We don’t want to deal with the issue right now – because it will mean change, and we don’t like change, we also don’t want to face up to the issue.
- We don’t make the time – you see we are just too busy! (What a cop out that is!!)
So, we just continue on like the hamster running faster and faster, but not making any progress towards building an asset that has a value.
If the definition of insanity is to do the same things we have always done and expect a different result, then I have a challenge for you to do something different this week!
This challenge will only take 1 hour – so let’s get all the excuses out of the way and accept that if you are serious about your future you can find 1 hour!
In this hour – like my friend, switch off the phone, shut down emails, and tell all those who might disturb you that you are unavailable for this hour.
Then take a blank pad of paper, digitally or physically, or use a mind map – it does not matter what the tool is – and spend the hour describing what you want your business to look like in 3 years time. Describe it in as much detail as you can.
I am purposely not going to give you a list of items to include. I want you to just think on your own and capture your thoughts. What do you want to build? What is your vision for the business? What do you want from it?
This is the first step in building a business, and moving away from the demanding job syndrome – assuming that is what you want!
Make this investment in yourself – just an hour this week!
Then tell me what you have captured – I would love to hear.
So, go on, and be good to yourself this week – invest in your future! I am dying to hear your results – so share them with me!
Sorry I know this has been longer than usual, but hey! It’s for your benefit!
Email me at: johnmurphy.focuspoint@gmail.com