You may recall, I recently wrote about the importance of community service and the role businesses have in supporting important events that make life better for all of us. Businesses including farm businesses, are the life blood of rural communities and it’s important for us to support them, and for business owners to take good care of themselves.
In this article, I’d like to share some thoughts about what it takes to be, and remain, resilient in what can be challenging times. Why it’s important to be able to reset when things stray off course, celebrate the small wins as well as the big ones, and give yourself some credit for a job well done.
We’re three months into 2023 and as sure as eggs the plans you’d put in months before have changed.
A supplier may have backed out of a deal, the ongoing interest rate rises might have meant you’ve needed to tighten your belt (at work and on the home front) and staffing may still be proving challenging and you’re wearing more hats than usual.
On a tough day, you’d be forgiven for throwing up your hands and questioning why you do it to yourself.
That’s probably tiredness and frustration talking, but it needs to be kept in check, so it doesn’t become a health issue.
Of course, being a business owner has its rewards too. Among them the opportunity to run your own race, enjoy the personal satisfaction of building something worthwhile and the personal prosperity it can bring.
My regular readers will know, I follow a fellow called Charlie Gilkey, a business coach and bestselling author of a book called Start Finishing.
What I like about this bloke is his very practical approach to addressing the everyday business issues and interruptions that can prevent us from achieving goals. These are also the things that can mess with our heads and elevate our blood pressure.
There is so much going on in the world today, that it often feels like the only constant is change. However, it’s how we deal with change that’s important to our overall business/life success.
The key to effective planning is to factor in the what ifs. To understand that continually amending and tweaking plans, especially for a major goal, is likely to deliver better overall outcomes.
Old-mate Gilkey talks about 3 levels of success.
The ‘small’ successes are those that enable incremental and progressive steps that together can contribute to greater success down the track.
‘Moderate’ success is usually the achievement of a goal you’ve set your mind too and done off your own bat. It may not be momentous, but it provides satisfaction and a chance to celebrate your personal/professional effectiveness.
Then there’s ‘epic’ success and this involves building a team around you and combining resources to achieve an aligned end goal, working towards it and ultimately exceeding your expectations.
For most of us, achieving epic success in business involves making our way through the small and moderate successes first, building alliances with others who are smarter than ourselves or collaborating with those who have more experience. It also includes keeping an eye out for opportunities, especially those that can create positive change the sort that might result in a different outcome from the original goal, but ultimately better.
As was my point with the importance of community service, working together and being aware of the resources and skills available in our own business community is often the key to achieving successes.
You may also recall the Board Room Sessions I co-founded a few years ago. Again I extend an invitation for you to attend. You’ll be glad you did, and not just for the business insights, the peer support will do much for your mental health and self-esteem. Give me a call for the next sitting.
Then when it comes to addressing the interruptions that prevent getting stuff done, may I refer you to an earlier article, appropriately called Getting Stuff Done, that overviews my five top tips for achieving and enjoying the personal satisfaction and the rewards business can bring. Here they are in brief:
1: Know your goals
2: Pick the top three to five to work on
3: Chunk it down
4: If it’s important ‘schedule it’
5: Don’t get ahead of yourself.
You can read the detail here.
To find out more about getting involved in our business community and should you need farm and business support, please feel free to give me a call on 08 8253 2906 or email info@financialservicessa.com.au.
This advice is provided by Phillip Dibben under Financial Services SA rural business consulting services. This information does not consider your personal circumstances and is of a general nature only. You should not act on the information provided without first obtaining advice specific to your circumstances.