by Karen Wessels, co-founder of VA Connect and co-founder of SnappSales
When you wake up on a Monday morning thinking its Saturday, I reckon that’s a great start to the week! Although some of you probably wouldn’t agree with this because more than likely you’ll feel disappointed to realize its Monday. I love Mondays! To me it’s symbolic of a fresh start to the week, an opportunity to start on a clean slate and do even better than what we did last week.
Also, Mondays are like a second Monday for me because my week starts on Sunday evenings where I prepare for the week ahead. I have my strategies in place and my mind-set is right, so that going into the week I know what is expected of me and what I would like to achieve to bring me even closer to my North Star, my vision for my life and business.
Are you living your best life as an Entrepreneur?
If I had to ask you whether you are feeling fulfilled and happy as entrepreneur, will I hear a resounding yes? You should wake up every morning excited to embrace the day and happy that today you get to make a small difference in the world with your product or service.
Look, no one said this was going to be easy, and believe me, the more successful you become and the better your bank balance looks, doesn’t mean that you don’t face challenges anymore. In fact, when you reach that level of success the challenges only become greater. Yip! It’s true. So make peace with the fact that you’ll be thrown curveballs on a daily basis. The difference is how you deal with these curveballs and challenges.
An entrepreneur is made of hardy material and quite frankly we don’t know when to give up or give in. Maybe not always such a great thing! An entrepreneur is intrepid, resilient, persistent, tenacious and keeps going even when others tell them it won’t work out.
I love how Elon Musk describes being an entrepreneur. He says :
“Starting a company is like eating glass and staring into the abyss.”
What steps can you take to enjoy entrepreneurial life?
Life is made up of choices. You get to choose whether you have a good day or bad day. You get to choose which direction your business is going. You get to choose your clients and team mates. The list goes on.
So the choice really is yours to ensure that you love your entrepreneurial journey.
Here are some key pointers to keep in mind:
- Are you having fun? One of my life’s mottos is to have fun. I do a regular pulse check to make sure that what I’m currently busy with, the business I’m growing and whom I surrounded by adds or detracts to that motto. You can have fun in business and if you do what you love, well then I reckon automatically you should be having fun!
- Does this serve your greater vision? Keep yourself busy only with tasks and projects that serve your greater vision for your business and your life. If you find yourself dragging your feet to get something done, isn’t it time then to look at outsourcing that particular task or to not do it at all?
- Hire your weaknesses. I joined a great discussion on LinkedIn this weekend about this very topic. It’s so important to understand where your strengths lie, to really grasp what you enjoy doing and what you are good at, then hire someone to fill your gaps. Believe me, it took me quite a few years to make peace with this, probably because as a women entrepreneur I believe I can do it all myself. However, why should I? Hire your weaknesses, not your strengths!
- Build your life and business with intention. Ensure that with every task you do, every person you hire, every product or service you develop, that you do so with intention. The intention should be, amongst others, to help the greater good and assist those in need of what you are offering. The rest will follow.
Bringing it together
You get to choose what you want to achieve with this life. Why not go all out and make every day spectacular? Only you can make it so, no one else. Develop self-discipline, self-belief and the ability to have fun with what you are doing.
Karen Wessels is the co-founder and COO of VA Connect, a South African virtual assistant platform that provides outsourced administrative support; and is also the co-founder of SnappSales, a company that generates quality sales leads for its clients. Prior to establishing both her companies, Karen spent over 10 years in different sales, marketing & admin support roles. This experience has equipped her with the invaluable skills required to run her two successful business ventures. Follow Karen on her Personal Website | Twitter | Facebook | Google+
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