Finding and Keeping Perspective in Your Solo Business

It’s really easy to lose perspective as a solo business owner. There is so much to attend to, the to do list never gets shorter, and sometimes it seems like the hurrieder we go, the behinder we get.

And we are driven to do everything well. We want to succeed, right? Well, then obviously every single thing we do or produce as to be absolutely perfect, or at least as close as possible, which means making sure we take care of that last 5% of any undertaking. We stay up late, get up early, work on weekends, and edge closer to burnout trying to get it all to work.

Stop. Take a breath. Give yourself a break. Really.

If things aren’t going as quickly as you think they should, step back and think. Is that really true, or are you burdening yourself with unrealistic expectations? Often, we get in our own way because of the high standards we hold ourselves to.

When you think you aren’t getting enough done, stop and think about this: Out there in the traditional business world, it takes at least three full time employees (probably more) to get done what you are getting done. If things seem slow, use it as a learning experience. Did you leave out factors in your planning that are extending your timeline? Were your assumptions faulty in some way? Ninety-nine percent of the time, the reason you aren’t meeting your objectives is NOT that you aren’t doing enough. Honest.

Inch by inch everything’s a cinch. Do the right things and the right things will happen. Good enough is good enough.

And that’s key…for those of us running a busy business on our own, good enough is good enough. We can’t spend our time and energy trying to add that last bit to make things perfect, or wait until our plans are completely set before launching them. If we do that, we stand a chance of losing a lot of what we went out on our own to get-freedom to spend time outside the office with family and friends, to have a 360-degree life. Striving for 100%, as many of us were taught to do, puts us at risk of having only one dimension in our lives…and if that happens, what’s the point?

We need to be able to succeed by doing good enough.

Don’t take this the wrong way. I’m not saying that mediocrity is good enough. Nor am I saying that you should considering “just squeaking by” the way to succeed. I’m saying that knowing when what you’ve done is good enough is important for keeping your perspective and your well being.

Trish Lambert’s shortest bio is on Twitter, where she is billed as “Fervent champion of solo biz owners who want to stay solo and successful, woman of high, unmodulated energy, sometime couch potato.” Trish started 4R Marketing ( http://4rmarketing.com ), a home-base marketing and copy writing consultancy, in 2005 and built it into a 6-figure business in less than two years. In addition to running 4R Marketing, Trish now works with other at-home service professionals through Success in Sweatpants ( http://successinsweatpants.net ), her coaching practice whose tagline is “It’s all about freedom-no excuses!”

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Trish_Lambert

http://EzineArticles.com/?Finding-and-Keeping-Perspective-in-Your-Solo-Business&id=4422289