If Only I Had the Time

Building and maintaining a business is tough. There are times when you might feel as if you are on a hamster wheel. I know my hamsters loved that wheel but how about you? Unless you consider this exercise, perhaps it's time to take another look at that wheel.

Transcript

Speaker: 0:10

Welcome to The Water Trough, where we can't make you drink, but we will make you think. My name is Ed Drawster, the Small Business Doctor, and I'm really excited you chose to join me here as we discuss topics that are important for small business folks just like you. If you're looking for ideas, inspiration, and possibility, you've come to the right place. Join us as we take steps to help you create the healthy business that you've always wanted.

0:46

Welcome to the water trough. This is ed draws to the small business doctor. I recently came across a request for proposal from someone. On LinkedIn. This person is contemplating growing her business, or perhaps going back to an employee, employer arrangement.. And while I haven't had the chance to discuss the matter with her on the phone or via zoom, We have gone back and forth a couple of times through email and it's become evident that the big challenge evolves around what this person calls work-life balance. I thought it was quite inspiring because. While we agree to discuss the matter further. It was evident. That she could not. Find or make the time. To have that initial conversation. Many of us are in this position. Those who are self-employed. And particularly those who are professionals with extraordinarily high levels of, Independence and. personal credibility. Are apt to work themselves. At a very high level. And there's nothing wrong with this until a poor, somebody says. I'd like to make a change. I'm contemplating making a change. But in effect. I don't have time. To engage in the process of making a change. Again, This is not uncommon. But as with everything here, At the water trough. It's my goal to. Inspire people to think a bit more deeply about what is going on. At the face of it work-life balance might be described as having more time for things other than work. You might say. Working to live. Rather than living to work. In my eyes. The idea of a work-life balance is an oxymoron. You have one life. And it's not that you balance work and life so much, you live your life and you make the choices of how you do that. But when you find yourself in a position when you're on the hamster wheel and you cannot stop running. It's very difficult. To step back and take a look at what's going on. And ask yourself if this is truly working out for you or not. Folks in this position are typically so. Driven so inclined to keep going. That the idea of stepping back and thinking about what's going on. Is painful. It might be construed as being a. degradation of there. Enthusiasm. It might be considered. A. Lack of motivation. It might be considered any of a number of negative things. And it may just feel, but the best way to deal with this is to continue running on that squeaky wheel. I believe this might be the conundrum. The people in this position are facing. If I stop running. Then things will go to hell in a hand basket. I'll fall behind. My accomplishments, my achievement will diminish if not just simply collapse. So how can I possibly do that? Of course, one can continue in this state. Conceivably for a very long time. But are you doing the best possible thing? You can. For yourself. And for those goals and dreams that you aspire to reach. Now only the individual can answer that question. This is not something for others to provide for us. We have to come to this conclusion on our own. But I believe it's extremely important. For those that are running on this hamster wheel. To find a way to step back. And ask themselves just how effective the process is. That takes quite a bit of discipline. Especially for those that are highly competitive. Highly self competitive for that matter. And feel that backing down in any way, shape or form is inappropriate. But I postulate that this is not about backing down. At all. This is really about acknowledging. Our limitations. It's about acknowledging that we may have far more effectiveness in a completely different or in a somewhat different scenario. Then the one that we're currently engaged in. In short, this is not about failure. This is about capitalizing upon. All of the attributes, all of the capacity, all of the capability. That we have. Running on the hamster wheel consumes a lot of energy. Naturally. We do have a finite amount of energy. And if we direct the energy that we have at those things, That we truly value. We're going to. Get the most. Out of what we do. Certainly there are times and the hamster wheel is appropriate. There are times when one has to step up the level of activity. To make things happen to get through a certain point in time. However. Unbalanced without having taken the time. Who assess our selves, who we are and what we're capable of doing. And the impact that what we're doing is having on us. I surmised that we can't possibly achieve our greatest potential. Well there, you have it food for thought. Are you running on a hamster wheel? Is it good for you? Are you achieving the goals that you hope to achieve? Or is everything going by so quickly? You honestly don't know. This is ed draws to the small business doctor. I want to thank you for listening in and until next time. I want to wish you a healthy business.