“Progress has little to do with speed, but much to do with Direction” - Unknown
You manage small scale projects in between the larger, more far-reaching projects. You strategize to integrate the right resources for all of your projects, and you also spend a lot of time managing your subordinates. You are there to encourage or educate them when things go wrong, you take the time to recognize their efforts when they excel, and you still take time to manage long-term planning processes for next year and beyond.
But are you managing yourself?
It’s common for business leaders like you to be “too busy” all of the time, running faster and faster. You live life from problem to problem, and as a result, there is no opportunity to enjoy all that you have fostered in other people and all the ideas you have developed while excelling at your job.
Regardless, a business or even a department within an organization is a reflection of the person running the show. So if that person is stressed or poorly organized, then these characteristics will be reflected in the business.
So why not manage yourself?
Here are some reasons why you may not have been managing yourself so far:
You are comfortable and we tend to stay with what is comfortable
You don’t know what your possible limits actually are
You aren't aware that there are other ways to do what you are doing
You may be get an energy boost from being stressed and overworked
Let's look at the steps to a different approach - Self-Management.
1. Clarify your personal goals
Many of us lose sight of these as we get immersed in the rush of day-to-day life. Do your personal goals complement your business goals? Asking yourself this question will root out any dissonance between these two areas of your life. And remember, you DO have two areas; professional and personal. If they are not in harmony, determine whether the business goals can be re-oriented or modified to support what you would like to achieve personally.
2. What role do you want to have? Imagine yourself three or four years from now. Think about who you want to be. What role do you want to have in the business? Thinking about what you want in the future can give you great insights into what strategies you may need to put in place now.
3. Look at how you are actually spending your time. This is where the rubber meets the road. If you really are true to yourself when you do this exercise you will learn a lot about where the potential lies for making changes. How are you really spending your time? Break your day down into at least half hour slots and write down exactly what you do in each 30 minutes. Imagine that you are on a diet and your doctor has asked you to keep an honest food journal, to reveal your major calorie intake times of the day. This is what you want for your time journal.
This is your life. Be conscious of how you are living it.
There is never a better time than right now for planning to do things differently. Take charge of yourself and your business by choosing a direction that allows you to meet both your personal and business goals, and still retain your sanity!