Follow your passion, but…

How many times have you heard "Follow your passion to be successful in business?" I believe that's true, but sometimes I have a hard time staying on track. When you run a business it's easy to get distracted. Sometimes it's low hanging fruit in the form of a sale you just can't pass up. On other days adminstrative trivia can waste a whole afternoon. Pretty soon you find yourself wondering what happened to the love and passion you had on day one.

Here are a few tips that might help you get back on track when you find yourself asking "Why am I doing this?"

1. Write down what you do best. If you are like me you can get distracted when you forget what you do best. There is no substitute like pen on paper for clarifying what is going on in your head. Take a minute and in one sentence write down what you do best on a post it note. Tape it to the edge of your monitor, your dashboard, your bathroom mirror, the refrigerator, the dog food bag, the coffee pot...you get the idea. Some people have a hard time articulating their passion but when you ask what they do best the answer is pretty easy. I am best at helping business owners understand, dissect and solve problems. When I find myself straying into areas like making journal entries and reconciling bank statements I start to get discouraged. Hire people to do all the things that are still required of your business but that don't fit your passion. And if you can't afford to hire people you really need this next one.



2. Get organized. Read David Allen's book and put it into practice. I watched a video where David was speaking to a group at Google and he used the analogy of a rock being thrown into a pond and the resulting appropriate response of the water. If a pebble is thrown into a pond the water gives a pebble response. If a rock is thrown into the pond the water gives a rock response. If a boulder is thrown into the pond the water gives a boulder response. The water doesn't freak out when it sees the boulder coming. It just responds appropriately. Having a system like David's to get organized is what allows you to have an appropriate response to the barrage of situations and issues that come at you as a business owner every day. If you are cash strapped and can't hire people to take care of the areas outside your passion it is imperative that you get organized. This is the only way that you will have time to do the things that must get done. You might need to work your butt off for a while, but if you have system you CAN do it.



3. Listen to yourself. Every so often I sit down with a business owner and we start talking about all the opportunities that are out there specific to that particular business. These opportunities are met with statements like "But whose going to do that?", "Do you realize how much work that is?", "But I can't do that." Here's the deal. If you sound like this GET OUT! You don't enjoy what you're doing, you don't have any passion and you won't be successful. It takes work to turn opportunity into results and if you just aren't ready to work there is nothing I or anyone else can do for you. When I started my business I worked 60, 70, 80 hours a week doing stuff that was nowhere near my passion, but it had to be done if I was going to take advantage of opportunity. Don't kid yourself. Anything worth having is worth working for. If you don't enjoy busting your butt every once in a while you are in the wrong business. If you need a little kick in the pants become a fan of Gary Vaynerchuk. This guy believes in hustle and he doesn't mince words. There are no shortcuts.

Staying on track is hard sometimes. You will have good days and bad days, and there will be some days when you fall off the wagon. Just remember what you do best, stay organized and listen to yourself. It's really pretty simple (touch of sarcasm in case you missed it).

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