Making the Transition:Evaluate

       Everyone will tell you transition is not easy. As our worlds become more and more intertwined with checking email at home and board meetings done by phone. I find the greatest asset we can use to concentrate our impact with our home and business lives are elimination. I have been on a journey in my life and practice of coaching to eliminate all the excess. The truest way to impact your business and your life is to systematically examine your functions in order to evaluate how well it is serving you, your family or your business.

    Personally I am in the process of moving and the most significant changes for me have been weeding through home pieces in order to evaluate the usefulness. Taking this time before moving allows me to get rid of or pare down to the essentials. A non profit I work with also evaluates at least twice a year the processes that are working and the processes that are no longer working. I have seen first hand how being able to evaluate the effectiveness of systems and processes will change your business, and expand your impact.

Being able to evaluate systems and processes that are no longer bringing the desired results for your business and home will allow you the freedom to build and expand. This incisive change will further business and invest in your family.  Give yourself the opportunity to succeed fully!

I would establish a set of questions to ask in these situations to verify how each system or process is working for the business. 

As I have built my own practice I ask myself:

-What is the focus of my impact?

-Does this system or process follow my impact focus?

-Does this system or process add to the bottom line in regard to dollar revenue vs time spent?

-Would my business be impacted negatively if I stopped?

-Who is targeted by this system or process?

-Am I spending too much time on this system or process?

-Am I using this as a time filler so I can stay busy?

This is a partial list, of course you should tailor the questions you are asking to your specific business or situation. This is the first section in the transition series. so take the next few days to challenge yourself with the deep questions about your business. The depth of the questions you are willing to ask yourself reveal the depth of change possible. 

Kill the Cow, Keep the Dryer

You know what these are, the things maybe habits or items we can't live without. Our sacred cows of life. I'm reminded of a girl and her industrial strength hair dryer, but I digress. Sometimes your sacred cow is as plain and as unknown as the nose on your face, something your eye is trained to ignore.

I would challenge you to ask a friend, spouse, or coworker what your ticks are. To be brutally honest my biggest tick was an "Adult" job 9-5 Monday through Friday. I don't know if I thought the world was going to end if I worked outside of those hours but I know my most productive times do not always happen between 9 am - 5 pm. Somehow I decided that people who worked these hours had made it. After much reflection I have decided Monday through Friday 9-5 doesn't work for me. So with one sacred cow down and the other soon to be down. I have a new standard of "arrival". I want to work minimally without my income being dependent on my presence in the office. When the cow no longer stands in the way you are free to redefine and adjust expectations.

The other was comfort. I liked a predictable ( insert safe) standard of living. I was terrified first with what would I DO if i no longer was a work-a-holic? What would happen if I stepped out to the unknown and fell flat on my face? I was too comfortable in my commitments like rent and car payments and a delightful cell phone bill. These demands were an unkind task master.

Challenged by an honorable man, I was given the task of following a rabbit trail into the what if's of the world. What if I didn't fall on my face? What if I succeed at my heart's desire? What if I did become an author? One of my dreams from a tender age. But it gets better! Not only did I dream of one day writing a book, I specifically wanted to write a book on the coast of Maine in a sea cottage on the beach. So my journey down the rabbit hole continued. What if I COULD write a book in a sea cottage on the coast of Maine with the ocean as my soundtrack and a lighthouse for my bearings. Life just looked better and better. Well first things first I had to believe I had something to write! Its difficult to be a writer without stories. But I assure you I have no shortage of words and even ideas, but a story??? So I have beaten back the beast of a sacred cow to try my wings outside of comfort and though the journey is in its infancy, I am delighted to say its been quite the success.
The land beyond your sacred cows is bright and full of promise and risk. But all of the best things take a bit of faith.