Do Business Well

The one thing that every person has in common is the amount of time they have in an hour — sixty minutes. Depending on individual priorities, the manner in which these same periods are spent is infinite in choice. Amazingly though, and despite efficient management of time, the majority of our achievement and happiness takes place in a short space of time. Using the unit of one hour as a reference point, ten minutes is utilised in channelling our energy proactively, while fifty minutes is wasted in using our energy reactively. With the majority of our energy absorbed through involvement with such draining elements, it is no surprise that there is so much fatigue and depression.

Every waking hour takes you either towards fulfilling your particular speciality, or away from it. There is no neutral, only forwards or backwards. Channelling your energy has nothing to do with keeping in balance, which is more to do with restoring energy that has been drained. When you channel your energy correctly you actually generate energy; when you do not, you divert energy into frustration, procrastination, exasperation and many other ‘ations. Being in balance means having command over the use of your own energy. This requires spending your time only on those activities that you have previously decided are of high value to you. The fact is, however, that we allow what is actually significant to us to be submerged by whatever is insignificant to us.

Deciding what is important in our lives is very much an individual consideration. But as most people do not know what is important in their lives, prioritising can be impossible. The result is the tendency to live vicariously through others; we become more interested in what others are doing than in what we ourselves should be doing. A glance at what dominates daily news reports provides ample testament to this tendency.

Applying the rule of ‘it is not the hours you put in, it is what you put in the hours‘, consider the following. Do your waking hours involve: thinking about what you should have done; worrying about what you should be doing; doing things other people have asked you to do and which you couldn’t say no to; doing things you don’t enjoy; doing things that are interrupted; doing things you are not very good at; doing things that are part of a ritual; doing things that are predictable; doing things in order to put off what you have planned to do; daydreaming about what you would like to be doing?

But that’s just the way life is, you may be thinking to yourself. To spend time the way you want, or for that matter ought, is just not feasible. Your work does not allow you the freedom to do otherwise, or you would have to be single to live the way you want. In any case, you think, one must not be selfish. Wrong.

However you rationalise it you will not detract from the reality of the way you currently employ your energy. Becoming a specialist requires more than mere discernment. It demands a ruthlessness in saying no to anything that you intuitively feel is draining your energy. This requires an honesty with yourself as to what is important in your life, for it is only with such honesty that you can be honest with others. In turn this involves establishing ground rules with those you share your life with. Treating others as you yourself would want to be treated, by definition involves thinking of what is right for you first, for when you are on course the ripple effect that exudes from you is beneficial to others.

Applying this Golden Rule does not mean you should compromis_e what is important to you, however, for seeking to please others just so that they will not think ill of you can build resentment and guilt.

It is, of course, difficult to cut out activities that take you away from what you want, when you are uncertain as to what it is you do actually want. But knowing what you want, and doing what you enjoy, are the very pillars of specialisation success. This leads us to the next vitally important key.

There is nothing more personally motivating, more energy building, more fulfilling and more worthwhile, than knowing that what you do is what is important to you, is what holds meaning for you, is what you want to do, and, above all, is what you are inclined to do.

The best way to channel your energy is to develop your strengths; the best way to develop your strengths is to build them within the framework of your own personal mission. Having a callin_g and following it gives purpose to life and meaning to what you do. Without a personal calling your energy will flow into the countless tributaries of materialistic goals, all of which will sap your strength in due course.

To live and breathe is to be created for a purpose, and to discover and fulfil that purpose is to realise our potential. Moreover, each of us has a responsibility and a duty to be extravagant with our potential, for why else would it be given to us? Absorbing ourselves in something and grander than ourselves provides the opportunity to fully develop and share our strengths. Having a clear purpose allows us to believe in business you are in as a person. In the same way that you would ourselves and know what we stand for; it’s about deciding what not have confidence in a business that didn’t know what it stood for, why should a company have confidence in an individual who doesn’t know what he or she stands for? If you don’t know what you stand for, you are continually pulled betwixt and between anything else that comes along.

Discovering your calling and developing it with accompanying values means sticking to a process. This in itself is difficult, as it is both emotionally and spiritually searching. Anything worthwhile does require effort, of course, but it removes the feeling of continual yet futile struggle, as it turns a sense of longing into a sense of belonging. The process requires deep and reflective time alone as only your own intuitive self can provide the answers. By all means crystallise your thinking in discussions with others, so long as you remember that family, friends and colleagues are agencies, not sources. For a mission to be personal it has to encapsulate the passion of your own vision, not someone else’s. Be aware of aligning yourself to something to please or impress others. Too many people live by scripts which have been handed to them by others, with no contribution by themselves:

In asking and answering questions to discover your calling it is important to be aware of being yourself. This means being honest and true to yourself without allowing any rationalisation to cloud your thinking. To the degree that you are yourself, you become receptive to understanding what you are to do. To the degree that you are not true to yourself, you are closed to what you are to do. In answering questions such as ‘what difference is my life going to have made?’ and ‘what would I want others to say of me when I’m gone?’, you must be your honest self.

However long it takes, aim to develop a meaningful statement that will galvanise your strengths and talents. Clarify what values are central to your life and work, and ensure that they are reflected in your personal goals, relationships with others, the commitments and promises you make, and the kind of preferences you hold. Established values take the tension out of those `will I, won’t I’ dilemmas. The process of crystallising your calling in a meaningful statement may take hours, weeks or months. You will also need to regularly review it, but do persevere as the quest for meaning and purpose in your life is far too important to be just fitted in, or to be treated as a task on a ‘to do’ list. Remember that your calling is something that every fibre of your being yearns for, that excites you emotionally, motivates you mentally and fulfils you spiritually. As such it is of paramount importance.

Having a statement of what is important to you allows you to align what you do with what you are. It qualifies you to assist in developing or reviewing a mission for your company, or the organisation in which you work, with new understanding and appreciation. It is nothing less than the highest form of arrogance, even ignorance, to criticise the mission of another without having gone through the process of developing your own first. Yet, in seeking to spot the flaw first, the majority of people spend more time knocking the ideals or missions of others, even of those they work with, with cynical remarks.

Spending time developing a personal mission and understanding individual values, rather than criticising the suggestions of others over a charter of shared purpose, allows the alignment of individual values, beliefs and philosophy with a company. People who take the time to do this naturally view things from a different perspective. They may choose to leave, or they may choose to be proactive rather than reactive. The principle of putting your own house in order before complaining about the state of the street is a good one to follow. Just one person who genuinely cares about the direction of the company they work with can begin to make a significant difference, regardless of their station. People want meaning in their lives, it is the essential ingredient in organisational success.

Having and following a calling is exhilarating as it begins to permeate everything you do, shaping your actions and building your relationships. By creating and continually reviewing what you are all about, what really absorbs and interests you, you ensure that you utilise your strengths to the full and perform to your best each day, a best that continually improves.

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