Every business person wants to succeed. But many people in the business don’t realise, they are the businesses biggest obstacle to success. One of the easiest ways to free up your people and their energy is to learn to let go of the things that don’t matter to the success of the business; so it’s people can focus on what does – when people try and achieve this, growth becomes important, so we often say this person has a growth mindset,
This way they are creating space for real growth and opportunity for both the business and it’s employees rather than filling them with meaningless, energy-consuming tasks and tedium.
Your business can be a shining light in your industry sector. I have helped people by just taking away simple things that were causing real problems in their business – often it comes out of a single conversation, having people trust new technology rather than rely on the old ways of doing things. What this has taught me is that Everyone wants to succeed. But many people just need to find their focus. In practice this means:
Work smarter, not harder. 70-hour weeks are not the ticket to success. They’re a recipe for an early grave. Take a step back. Forget money for the moment. What would it take for you to be absolutely brilliant at what you do? That’s what you should be doing. Smart people know that excellence always brings money. So, be excellent and stop chasing money and power in the short-term.
What I did was find new technology and simply cut my hours back to 24 hours a week. This gave me room to breath, look at the bigger picture, learn or relearn new skills and I have not looked back.
Giving up control. If you work in a team or you are in charge of a team; let people do their jobs. You do not need to control every aspect of somebody else’s professional life. Trust them to do what they need to do and focus on doing what you need to do. You both win. They’ll like you more, you’ll get more done.
Done right, software is often about giving you control, by providing insights into your business and empathising with your suppliers, employees and customers.
Learn to say “no”. So, stop saying “yes” to everything. When somebody asks you to do something, stop. Think about it. Give a reason for saying “no”. We did this as a business with more regularity and it’s worked beautifully for us.
Focus is key. If the request does not fit with your plans, just say No!
Get rid of the people who bring you down. We only have so much energy in life. You don’t owe your energy to anyone. People can drain you and you’ll never get this back. Move them further away from your focus or if they work for you you need to find a way to let them loose.
We implement software, usually to free up the people’s time in a business so they can focus on other, often more important tasks. However, bringing in new technology and processes can provide a reason to let people go rather than retrain.
Stop seeking approval. The only thing that matters is that you know that you are doing a fantastic job and that you are constantly seeking to improve. You can’t spend other people’s approval. When you do something amazing, your customers will let you know.
You know when something is right – it comes from the gut!
There is no perfect moment. Stop delaying decisions or actions until the “perfect moment” arrives – there’s no such thing. If you have time to do something, do it now. Then move on to the next big thing. This will immediately make you more productive and your life less stressful.
Choosing the right moment is of course a huge factor in big decisions, however according to study we make 35,000 decisions a day – just try to make better decisions,
You can be a winner. Take a deep breath. Let the world take away your problems. If you believe software or technology should be your next focus then I’m always happy to meet for a coffee with those of us lucky to live in Sydney – but remember an idea is just an idea unless there are some business outcomes attached.