I work with a lot of business owners of small companies. Among my women business owner clients in particular, I constantly hear a refrain of trying to get it all done – in business, at home, and in the community.
Running a successful business is dependent on many factors, not the least of which is the health and energy of the owner. Joanne is a client of mine. She has a business, is a mom, volunteers on several local non-profit boards, and is exhausted all of the time. She came to me looking for a way to streamline her activities so she could make her business more successful – her kids were getting closer to college, and tuition payments were looming. She wanted to really ramp up her income.
Initially, she wanted to look at additional service lines in her business and how to increase the profitability of what she was selling. We spent some time there, we looked at specific key performance indicators, selected some strategies for future growth, and identified specific projects she could do this year.
However, while we were looking at the KPIs, strategies, and projects, I encouraged her to put a couple of personal ones in the mix. I had her identify several self-care strategies with performance indicators and encouraged her to measure her progress on those just as diligently as she measured her revenues, clients and profits.
We also worked on a couple of KPI’s in other areas of her life, such as her board and community work. She found that if she slid away from the self-care activities, the fatigue came back and left her unable to be her best at work. If she let the volunteerism objectives slip, she became consumed with guilt. When she missed these personal or volunteerism targets, she found that there was an impact on her business. She “got it” and her One Page Business Plan now contains objectives, strategies and action plans that incorporate her “whole self” and not just her business.
What does your “whole self” business plan look like? Do you incorporate personal goals into your planning process? Do you take the time you need to really focus on setting yourself up for success using a whole-self mentality? If you’d like some help figuring out how to create a comprehensive whole-self plan, please drop me a line at mpatton@odastrategy.com. I look forward to working with you to develop your whole-self plan. Or attend my retreat in January where we will help you set up 2020 so you can soar to success with clarity and confidence.
