Thinking for Success

With all the focus on surviving the current economic environment, few are thinking about thriving. In talking with business owners and key decision makers from the various organizations I work with, I’m often reminded by the more forward thinking individuals that what is happening now will not last forever. Their thoughts are focused on what their business will be like on the other side of the downturn and what they need to do now to be stronger later – they are taking steps to thrive. There are some common themes, thoughts and ways successful professionals approach their business and I’ve put together a list to share with you.

Welcome challenges - problems are opportunities for solutions. There are going to be challenges and from these challenges we can create solutions that not only deal with the issue but could lead us into new directions for growth

Follow your passions - you don’t choose your passions, your passions choose you. If you aren’t excited about what you’re doing, it is hard to live it, breath it and love it. Life is too short and work is too hard not to really LOVE what you do

Keep things interesting - lack of enthusiasm can lead to missed opportunities for you and your team. We have got to be engaged in our business and to be engaged, our business needs to be engaging! I often talk with professionals who after being in their business for five or ten years, feel they have met every challenge, faced every obstacle and are in a rut. I say that they have only scratched the surface! If we aren’t pulling new challenges our way to keep our work interesting, we’re not growing

Patience is a virtue – things take time, nothing happens overnight. I’ve heard this all through my life and the need for instant gratification has only grown. Be patient and while you’re waiting, measure and assess the action you are taking – you might be surprised how fast the results show up once we begin to measure what we are doing

Do what’s manageable – free yourself from the paralysis of trying to do it all by doing what you can manage to do. There is no use in striving for something that will always be out of reach

Always try to do better – constantly push to improve things. Focus on what’s wrong, what’s right is already money in the bank

Recognize key players – keeping your key players happy is a priority, acknowledge their support and the role they play in your success

Pick and choose the right advice – get counsel from your mentors and people you respect. Not all advice is going to be for you, ultimately you have the final say

Make the hard decisions – now is not the time to procrastinate. Making the tough decisions now will make you stronger later

Simplify – things don’t have to be complicated. The more straight forward and simple we make things, the more de-cluttered our lives will be

Think about these points and how you can adapt them into your day to day activities. Right now, we are all laser focused on dealing with the business of today due to the economy. Stepping back and applying the points above will help us and our business to be stronger when we emerge from this recession. Good luck.