More Than WE Know

In yesterday’s post I discussed the challenge of taking a break from working. Entrepreneurs are prone to becoming workaholics, especially when we have found something that fuels our passion.

But I heard back from several of you that your challenge lies in the opposite direction - you have trouble staying motivated.  Sure, you still love the idea of your business, but you tend to avoid some of the less appealing aspects.  Items that are less interesting or downright unsettling keep dropping to the bottom of your to-do list. Before you realize it, it’s been weeks since you balanced your checkbook, sent out a follow-up invoice, made a sales call, or pitched a workshop.

We even find ourselves putting off working on the aspects of the business that we do like. Maybe you love to create new designs or write articles or develop workshops. Even so, we put off these activities because we fear that our end product won’t be “good enough”.  We prefer the vision we have in our mind to the product we create with our hands.

The common theme between both challenges: working too much or working too little is balance; We need to find the right proportion of work in our daily lives.

One way to do this is to put more structure around our enterprises:

• establish work hours - either specific hours that you work (ex. 8 to 3) or a specific amount of hours (ex. 7 hours per day)
• establish goals for the week - make a list on Sunday of all the things you will get done the following week and by when 
• partner with an accountability buddy - check in, in the morning to let them know what you plan to accomplish during the day and then check in, in the evening to let them know whether or not you succeeded

 I know that part of the reason you went into business for yourself is because you wanted the schedule flexibility that comes with it.  But sometimes, we need structure and consistency in order to focus our minds and our actions.  If we think we have all the time in the world to get something done - it may never get done.  Limits drive action; actions drive results.

So, between now and next Monday, decide what you are going to accomplish next week and the hours in which you are going to get it done.  Whether your goal is to get more done or to work fewer hours, establishing an action plan will help.

Once you have an action plan, find an accountability buddy within your network or feel free to use this post. Just write in the comment section what your goals are and when you will achieve them and then let me know at the end of the week how you have done.  I look forward to hearing from you.

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I’m writing this post on the train heading into NY. I spent Labor Day weekend at our house on the lake in Connecticut.  I really tried to get into the spirit of Labor Day this year and did my best to refrain from working.  My husband and I went kayaking, and swimming, planted fall flowers and had an “end of summer” picnic with our neighbors.   All in all, a pretty respectable observance of the “working (wo)man’s” holiday.  But I have to admit that my mind repeatedly wandered to challenges in my business, and more than once I picked up my laptop to respond to an email or check my blogstats.

Labor day was originally conceived to give a break to the average worker.  I guess it was assumed that management had enough time off; this one was for the laborer. Work life has changed a lot since 1882; it is no longer as easy to tell when we are working and when we are not; it is also not as easy to tell who is the laborer and who is management, especially in regards to entrepreneurs.

In the 19th century, you were either working, or you weren’t.  In the factory, in the fields, in the store, in the mines  - working; anything else - not.  But in the 21st century, we take our jobs with us - in the forms of Blackberries, Treos, cell phones, pagers, laptops, wi-fi connections and satellite wireless cards.  We can always be making one more call, checking in with one more client  or writing one more article.  We can be reached 24×7, 365 days per year and even more, it’s harder to turn our minds off of the problems and challenges of our “knowledge work” . 

As entrepreneurs, we fall somewhere in the murky realm between laborers and management.  In theory, we are managment, even leaders - as we develop the strategies to design and market our products and services. But in many cases, we are also the laborers - producing the products, packaging the merchandise, fulfilling the orders, making the sales calls, and setting the appointments. 

Many of us have difficulty taking time off - our businesses depend on our efforts, afterall. And for many of us, our work is also our passion, which means that sometimes the thing that feels most fun is actually - more work!

While all work and no play will make Jack a dull boy, it will make Jill a burned out entrepreneur.  As hard as it is, we all  need to take time for ourselves. We need to get away from the constant, everyday demands of our business.  And the irony is that if we do, we’ll return with greater perspective, greater passion, greater creativity and greater energy than if we had continued working straight through.

Most of us have businesses that our great-grandparents would not be able to recognize or understand.  The world has changed dramatically since they first established Labor Day. But their rationale and their wisdom still holds true - every so often, we need to take a day off from our work. What looks like doing nothing - is really doing something.  We are giving ourselves a chance to gain perspective, to re-energize and to refuel. 

How did you spend your Labor Day? Are you able to shut off your business now and then? I’d love to hear your secrets - please share below.

I just learned about a great new social networking site exclusively for women business owners and “business owner wannabes”! It’s called MyWomanOwnedBusiness.com. It’s the brainchild of Kimberly Porrazzo, editor of OC Metro magazine. 

The site is great in that it combines the personalizaition and individual creativity of MySpace with the business networking focus of LinkedIn. The site just launched and membership is growing rapidly.

In her site profile, Kimberly explains her motivation for starting the site:   

“I attended meetings of the Orange County chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO; www.nawbo-oc.org). I couldn’t help but be impressed by the willingness of women to share ideas about business with each other, even in a competitive situation.

I wanted to create a space where women could come together to ask questions of one another in a nonthreatening atmosphere; a place where like-minded women could ask for advice about a business situation or problem, for suggestions on how to grow their business - and, a place to shout out their successes in order to inspire other women. ”

I especially loved the part about “shouting out our successes in order to inspire other women”!  What a great vision of support.

I am particularly excited for readers of MoreThanWEKnow because I think this site will be a great opportunity for low-risk networking for shy and introverted entrepreneurs who are less comfortable with traditional networking venues.  What’s even better is that the site is intended to help both women who already have a business and women who are considering starting one.

Although in its early stages, it appears that there will be a wide geographic distribution as well as a diversity of business ventures.  This will enable all participants to develop a broader, more varied network. 

As we’ve discussed previously, there are approximately 10 million women-owned businesses in the United States. The potential network that Kimberly’s site is tapping into is huge.

So, jump over to her site, take 5 minutes to set up a profile, and don’t forget to invite me as a friend - I’ll be waiting to hear from you!!  

Yesterday marked the ten year anniversary of the death of Princess Diana.   As many of you remember, Diana was as famous for her shyness as she was for her beauty and grace.  She struggled for years with her feelings of self-consciousness and inadequacy.  It was really only in the final few years of her life that she blossomed into the confident woman that she was.

There is a lesson in Diana’s story for many of us.  In our heads, we play the game of “if only…”  If only I were rich, if only I were beautiful, if only I were famous….then I would be self-confident.  But Diana had all of those things and still struggled with her self-esteem.

It was only as she became more aware of herself and the gifts she brought to the world that she became comfortable in her own skin.  It was only when she realized that her sincere compassion and empathy for others enabled her to touch their hearts, that she grew confident in her interactions.  

In the time following her divorce, Diana realized that she carried her gifts within her, apart from her royal title and trappings.  Despite losing her official place in British royalty, she had gained a permanent position in the world’s hearts as the “People’s Princess.”  Diana used her gift of heart-felt connection to help the world through her involvement with charities and worthwhile causes.  It is impossible to know  how her influence would have grown as she continued to mature into her full sense of her self.

Like Diana, many of us are unaware of our gifts.  We think we need more credentials, more experience, or more knowledge in order to help others.  But like Diana, we all carry the capacity to influence within us. 

Perhaps our actions won’t touch millions, but we do affect those we come in contact with throughout our days - in our business, in our families and in our communities.  

We do not have to be rich or beautiful or famous to make a difference in the world. We just need to get in touch with our own strengths. We need to share the unique gift of who we are with those who come in contact with us. We need to believe in ourselves and in the difference we can make. 

The next time you go to a networking event in which you feel self-conscious and insecure, consider Diana’s legacy: Believe in who you are; Be willing to share yourself with the world;  Believe that others need what you have to offer; Reach out to touch them with compassion and concern; Give them your best self; Trust that it will be enough.