Do you ever get to the point where you just think:
“When did this stop being fun?”
I asked Tina this a few weeks back and she had the PERFECT (of course) answer for me… she said it stop being fun when it became an OBLIGATION.
WOW that is so true! The minute my business, services, deliverable became something I simply had to do, rather than something I wanted to do is when it quit being fun. This past year has been a huge transition in my life, in many ways I have had a lot of responsibilities change in my life that require my business to play a much bigger part of our budget than it once did. I know many reading this right now understand the importance of your business being the sole provider for your home, livelihood and such. It’s hard to not see obligation, when you feel the weight of that responsibility. I totally get it.
But even with that in mind, we have a unique opportunity to be in control of how we choose to view the expectation… and it doesn’t have to be an obligation.
Honestly, running, growing, leading, managing a business is not always easy. It is not always sunshine and roses. Some days things simply go wrong, some days are long and some days our clients, team, etc… can be on our last nerve. Which might lead us to think: “Why am I doing this?” Is it because I said I would, is there a bigger reason behind it other than I need to get paid? Do I really want to do this 6-8 hours a day, am I feeling the value I am bringing to my clients businesses?
When that moment comes (and to be honest it likely comes to me about every 3 years) I have to remind myself of my vision for myself and for my business.
See it’s not always going to look FUN… but fun comes in many forms.
- Is it fun that I can take a long weekend this weekend and I didn’t have to ask anyone’s permission… that is pretty fun? (could have been a whole week if I wanted it and that is fun too.)
- Is it fun that at the end of the day I get to know that I have made a difference in the lives of my client, their customers and my team? (heck yea it is!!)
- Is it fun that when I need extra money I can simply add a client or do a project and pay off some debt or enjoy a vacation? (you betcha!)
- Is it fun that I get to be creative when I want to be creative and be super linear and analytical when I want to be analytical, or personable when I want to be personable? (a role that fits all my personalities..LOL sweet!)
We talk a lot about definition of success within our programs. Mine has been the same for about 5 years now. My definition of success is:
That I can be 100% present in the moment that I am in.
When I really consider what I do and the vision I have for my business and my personal definition of success… I have to ask myself, “Why isn’t this FUN?”
Being an Online Business Manager allows me to be fully ME, everyday. That is pretty fun right!
So the real question isn’t when did this stop being fun, but rather, how can I focus on the fun of today!
See what we focus on grows…
If you are focused on the negative, then you will simply grow the negative experiences within your life. But if you are focused on the positive, oh how things can change so quickly!
So what can you focus on today that will be FUN???
Do you know your own personal definition of success… and if you don’t how do you know when you are being successful? It’s important to clarify your expectations on yourself to know when you are achieving your success.
Want to connect about it? Pop on over to our facebook group: http://www.Facebook.com/iaobm and lets chat about what FUN you are having in your business right now!!