Is Business Happiness A Distant Memory?

30 Sep Is Business Happiness A Distant Memory?

When you have been immersed in something for many years, it is easy to lose the passion and excitement. The days of finding joy in building your business gone because you are focused on just staying ahead of the pack.

That enthusiasm is lost. The clock is ticking and you know you are running out of time.

It is time to stop. Take a moment and think. When was the last time you got immersed in something you loved doing? A time you felt so content you kept going just for the pure simple joy of loving what you were doing?

Has it been a while?

As we get older, many of us get more serious – there is a lot to think about as we get older – our health, financial future, business succession, our legacy and family.  Sometimes, we get so serious we forget to enjoy life.

It is time to seek out happy. Happy seems like a trivial word thrown around by people to get you to buy their stuff.  But when you have been in business for over 20, 30, even 40 years, there has to be more to life than just going through the motions in business.

Finding happiness in business

1. Go back – write down why you got into business in the first place. Think back to when you started in business – what was your why, what did you want to achieve?
2. Compare – Line up this passion and drive with what you’re doing in business right now. Is that possible at the moment? If not, think about why you are not enjoying what you are doing. Is it because:
   • You are bored with what you are doing
   • Finding challenges with your staff
   • Not getting enough time with your family
   • You are worried about finances
   • Finding it hard to keep up with all the changes
   • You’re energy and health has deteriorated
3. Be honest – once you have looked at where you have been and where you are at right now, it is time to get honest – where do you ACTUALLY want to be right now and into the future? If you are not there, maybe it is time to make changes.
4. Go looking – get help. If you are not happy and want to be happy in your business, you need to ask for help.  That is hard for so many of us.  The baby boomer generation prides itself of getting things done, stoically moving forward and not making it fuss.  Perhaps it is time to make a fuss – after all, this is your life.

Get off the treadmill

When I look back to where I was a few years ago, I knew I did not want to run my business anymore.  I was over the business treadmill.  At 53, I had had enough. I was just dragging myself around for quite a while there and I didn’t want to tell anyone, because I thought, shit, they’ll think I’m a failure. I felt like a failure because I didn’t want to do it anymore.

That was crazy.

Going through a midlife and carrying around the worry of what other people think of you will only create a bigger problem.  Pushing away your challenges and unhappiness means you’re pushing away what’s really there. 

Working with baby boomers, and being one myself, I have found so many of us deny the real truth. We spend years emerged in the business persona, the real inner you have been snuffed out.

What I really wanted when I burnt out at 53, was to be happy.

I wanted to enjoy life. To have fun – to keep earning a living – but to find joy in my days instead of drudgery.

I wanted more passion and purpose.

I did not want my passion and purpose to be coming purely from my business.

I did not want to feel trapped anymore, believing I had no options.

It is time to get real with yourself, if you feel like this too.  What do you really want?

Don’t let happiness be a distant memory.

And if you’re a babyboomer business owner who is sick and tired of staying where you are and wanting more out of your business and life, book in today for a ‘Breakthrough Session’.

Let’s help you get back on track.