Unique Beautiful Fun
21 April 2017 by Sarah-Jane Smith
sjsmith.com.au - blog
All the ups and downs
Business - Like Life Really
I'm always surprised by people who talk about separating life and business, especially people who work for themselves. I'm not talking about not having boundaries and taking regular breaks from working but more about that people compartmentalise this area of their life.
My work takes up about one third of my time and I consider it to be an important part of my life - not seperate from my life! I view it like any other part of my life and some days are good and some days not so much. If I've had a bad day I can take comfort in the fact that (hopefully) tomorrow will be a better day!
Just like other aspects of my life there are things I like about my work and things I don't particularly like but which have to be done. I don't particularly like doing bank reconciliations but I only have do them every three months. I like writing and find doing that to be a fairly easy part of my work.
Besides the obvious parallels in having to do things you may not love there are lots of other life lessons that you can apply to your business.
You can't always predict how people will react but you can control your own response. People/clients/suppliers/staff may not always behave how you think they will and you can be left feeling hurt/angry/offended. Taking a step back and trying to deal with people issues calmly almost always gives you a better outcome than shooting from the hip in the heat of the moment.
Like life, your experience is largely determined by your attitude. If you approach your day with a positive attitude your much more likely to have a positive day.
And like life, if things are not working for you, you have the ability to change them. Change your routine, change your work habits, get some help or outsource stuff that's driving you crazy.
Till next time,
Sarah-Jane X
