If we followed 10 different entrepreneurs, each for an entire day, nine of them would completely exhaust us. Why? Because most entrepreneurs are bouncing here, there, and everywhere, reacting to whatever comes up throughout the day.
Can you relate? Running your own business is a major balancing act; you are constantly juggling your professional and personal priorities and most entrepreneurs experience huge ebbs and flows in their productivity.
Taking control of your time and attention is an essential entrepreneurial skill. Your success depends on learning how to stop juggling and start directing.
Let’s investigate your habits and tolerations: It’s easy to get caught up in our automatic habits and behaviors, but if you want to build a sustainable business that doesn’t take over your life, it is important to slow down and take a very close look at the way things are operating. How do you show up in your business? What habits are running your days, weeks, months and year? How do you respond to the things that happen, both scheduled and unscheduled? These are very important questions because they shine a spotlight on the behind-the-scenes workings of your business. These are the factors that determine how well you operate the moving parts of your money machine. If you look closely, you will see that everyone operates according to habits. Some habits support our success; others most definitely do not.
Supportive habits feel effortless, and they move us closer to our goals. Perhaps it’s a morning walk or meditation, or a designated time to check e-mail and then turning it off for the rest of the day. Maybe it’s a planning session every Monday morning.
Non-supportive habits waste time, cause frustration, drain our energy, and damage our confidence as an entrepreneur. These can be anything from goofing off to failure to delegate, even a cluttered work environment or habitually checking your e-mail. These habits pull you out of alignment with your higher self. They interfere with planning and managing your business; they interrupt your flow; they keep you from being of service, and they block you from feeling the heartbeat of your business.
Another word for these activities or situations is: tolerations. Unfortunately, tolerations often become bigger tolerations, it’s important to nip them in the bud as they appear.
Do you want to know the Number One non-supportive habit in entrepreneurs? Procrastinating on the things that we know need to be done. Here’s an example of how that often plays out.
Even though I knew it was only a matter of time until my computer failed, I wasn’t proactive about this thinking, “I’m too busy to think about that now… buying a new computer is such a hassle… I don’t want to deal with moving all my information….”. Eventually, the day came when it was no longer optional and I had to get a new computer. The timing was inconvenient, my stress level skyrocketed, and that computer meltdown compromised my professionalism for two long weeks. If I had made it a priority and planned ahead, the entire process would have been smoother, less painful and completely transparent to my clients.
Do you live in Procrasti-Nation?
Looking a little deeper… Take some time, do some self-coaching and ask yourself and journal answers to the following questions:
1. What supportive habit could I adopt that would benefit my business and myself the most?
2. What are my habitual time wasters?
3. What am I tolerating?
- In my business
- In relationships
- In myself
4. What would it take to become toleration free? If there’s one specific habit that will transform your ability to minimize tolerations and maximize your effectiveness, the answer is clear: PLANNING!
Erickson Business Center Challenge: Answer the questions above and call your coach. Make a commitment to a new supportive habit.
