I have a real interest in football.
Having spent my childhood in Liverpool it would be hard not to! I love the excitement, atmosphere, passion and buzz that it generates. Recently I have been enjoying the World Cup excitement with my family. Even with England (my home country) having a dismal start and Ireland (my adopted country) not even in it at all, it is already getting very exciting.
One of the things I hear most from Self Employed Parents is that they feel they can’t get everything they need to get done in the time they have. They feel they are running to stand still. This often results in feelings of frustration, guilt and failure.
Many people go to networking events with the wrong intention in mind.
A lot of people still think the aim of going to networking events is to promote themselves and to sell their products and services. Big mistake. Here’s why:
One of the most common issues I hear from self employed parents is that they would like to work less hours to be with their kids, improve the quality of their family life and to be the parent they want to be.
Most of us understand the benefit of reading high quality business books to learn and apply new skills to upgrade the way our business works. But are we as willing to embrace books that deal with how we are operate as a person and our mindset?
Do you buy, or are you thinking of buying online products? If so, why?
It is an important question to ask because many people are buying online products that aren’t necessarily right for them or that they are unlikely to implement.
Is your business going to achieve what you want it to achieve this year? Is it performing and reaching the targets you have set? Do you know the answer to these questions without thinking? Do you have targets for your business that you are reviewing and actioning regularly?
If not, now is the perfect time to look at this in depth. As we come to the end of the first quarter of the year all Business Owners should be preparing for an end of first quarter Business Performance Review.
Are you running a business from home, trying to do everything yourself?
Do you just think of it as one of the aspects that goes with the territory of being a sole trader and the only consequence is feeling a bit isolated, lonely and unsupported from time to time?
If you answered “yes” to either of these questions then it’s time for a re-think. You need to find a way to cure your Lone Ranger Syndrome quick, because it is a lot more serious than just leading to isolation and having to do everything yourself.
Last week I decided to call a stop to everything that was going on in my business – and I mean everything.
Why I Stopped Everything in my Business
I have a lot of new projects on at the moment and have been trying to fit moving them all forward round my son’s school hours. The results was that last week, I found myself feeling more than a tad overwhelmed and family life was being affected. Now, those of you that know me know that my business impacting my family is an absolute no-no. That is why I stopped everything.
There is only one obstacle to success. Yes, only one -YOU! Let me explain:
The confusion over business obstacles
Most people confuse day to day circumstances and situations as obstacles and setbacks. They aren’t. They are just things to be dealt with. They only become obstacles and setbacks when we apply that label to them. I am talking about things like not enough clients, not enough hours in the day to get things done and so on. Stop seeing circumstances and situations as obstacles and setbacks. They aren’t, you have just been conditioned to think that they are. They are just part of the normal ebb and flow of business and life.
