Business is tough.
It will eat you alive and the clock will continue ticking without a care about your feelings, your financial situation or anything..
You will find shortcuts, quick ways to gain small wins. People you can step over to get ahead. Sometimes the “Power” of being the owner or boss makes you feel like your stuff doesn’t stink at times and people just need to do what you think is right!
Signs You Have Cracks In Your Foundation
As you build companies, teams, friendships, etc. You are not going to jive with everyone’s beliefs, political views, or even culture they prefer. This is ok, the goal is your not building a church here or a political party but your creating a culture of excellence and appealing to the masses to a point where everyone is rowing in the same direction.
That’s until you find yourself unable to sleep at night because of that one employee you know you have to let go end of the week. Or that personal expense you put on the company card not so accidentally. Or you get called our by your spouse for staying an extra day at a “conference” for some me time vs. come home to your responsibilities.
Sound familiar??
I was raised Catholic, my Father was the faith leader of our family and it was very clear the things we needed to do in our house.
Go to church.
Keep the commandments.
Be respectful
Get good grades (failed miserably!)
Well the “tasks” your expected to do became just that, to me for a long time I did as I was supposed to as a child, as I grew up and in business.
However my heart, my soul simply hurt at times because of some decisions I had to make to grow. I have never enjoyed letting someone go, or cutting a small vendor who can’t keep up with our volume, etc.
I’m not alone in this, regardless what your background, religion, beliefs, no one enjoys this stuff. However I missed the opportunity to put God in the work I was doing.
A real challenge after you have been committing to the entrepreneur grind stone day in and out is finding purpose in the day to day tasks that lose their enjoyment at times. Especially as you are transitioning through the Three phases of leadership and find yourself in a phase where you are still doing everything. The day can really wear on you, on your since of purpose and impact you have on your team, family, etc.
Real Purpose That Does Not Fade
My family fueled my energy, commitment and drive early on. This was in my mind enough for me to get my butt out of bed and take care of business. I was good at it, but I would go into what my wife and I refer to as “Auto-Pilot” mode of head down, emotions off, just a robot. Day in and out. As I entered my 40’s this really weighed on me. The young energy started to fade a bit, the body started showing wear from the dumb things I did in my youth and my awareness of “Auto-Pilot” mode made it harder to put my head down and just grind it out.
My wife, the faith rock of our family has always had the most amazing and intoxicating love for her family, and her faith. She too was raise devout catholic and unlike me she maintained and continued to grow her love of God after high school. I have learned so much from her faith, I give her credit here in realizing that what I was missing was giving God the day, giving him my efforts, my dedication, and all the glory the day was going to bring. Good day, bad day, happy day, sad day, God worked his way into my days. The foundation was still there, time to turn auto-pilot off.
Self Driving Only – No more AUTO PILOT
The power of prayer is so powerful. Regardless what you believe, whether your close to God or a stranger in passing. Prayer should be a daily injection into your life especially in business.
I have written my own prayers to help me find wisdom and direction in decisions I have to make. I pray for God to empower me to lead righteously with my team and to inspire them to grow in this life. I filled the hole I developed from letting so many people go by praying for these individuals and by taking steps to better communicate expectations, and better transitions when the time comes that prepares them and positions them to not be caught off guard.
Long story short, when I started to trust God in my world of business and brought him into that world with me, my world changed. What used to be pointless, life sucking tasks now had a higher meaning and sacrifice given up for the right reasons. This Journey also forced me to check myself to cut the crap, remove the excuses of being “busy” and remain focused on the real priorities of what could be considered a faith driven life.
Faith, family, growth, wellness