The Health of Your Business Is A Reflection Of Your Own Personal Health – stop and ‘sharpen your saw”

Anuraag Agarwal | December 05, 2018

Stop for a minute and think about the title of this blog.

It’s not uncommon for us to be reminded that our physical world is just a reflection of our inner world – in other words, what we think and how we feel.

So, it’s fair to say that the state of a business in most likely a reflection of how the business owner thinks and feels.

How we hold ourselves in familial, social or business situations is very much dependent upon what’s going in our heads and in our hearts!

Year end (and I’m talking about calendar year end, as in Christmas/New Year), is typically that period where most business owners are fatigued, mentally drained, full of waning motivation and possibly even physically drained.

Just the thought of ‘doing business’ might be a turn-off at this time of year.

If indeed this is how you might be feeling, then that’s a sure sign for you to re-charge, re-energise and re-invigorate.

We’ve come across business owner who feel (or think?) they need to be superhuman – they must carry on regardless of how they’re feeling, the business cannot run without them, if they don’t perform then how can they earn money and so on.

Steven Covey, in his book ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’ talks about the parable of a woodcutter (7th Habit) – as follows:

A woodcutter strained to saw down a tree.  A young man who was watching asked “What are you doing?”

“Are you blind?” the woodcutter replied. “I’m cutting down this tree.”

The young man was unabashed. “You look exhausted! Take a break. Sharpen your saw.”

The woodcutter explained to the young man that he had been sawing for hours and did not have time to take a break.

The young man pushed back… “If you sharpen the saw, you would cut down the tree much faster.”

The woodcutter said “I don’t have time to sharpen the saw. Don’t you see I’m too busy?”

It’s a simple and very effective story centred around the need to take time out, reflect and re-focus – sharpen the saw.

So, if you’ve now decided to stop and take some time out to ‘sharpen the saw’, what should you do:

·        -  First and foremost, decide to unwind and relax – actively spend time with family or get away for a few days – away from the routine.

·         - Regardless of what’s going on in your business world, when you start to unwind and relax, you are more susceptible to learning and taking in new ideas, thoughts and lessons.

·         - Now start exploring and seeing what others are doing and saying:

o    Watch TED talks

o    Read a great book on personal development or business

o    Listen to podcasts

o    Download an audio book

·        - The point being that today, there is absolutely no shortage of accessing information and ideas that are high-quality and that work and there’s no excuse for not doing so!

·         - Start to think about how, at least some of what you’ve seen, read or heard, may be applied to your business.

At this point, I would suggest just taking all this in and letting it settle in your mind.

Year end should be seen as the time to rejuvenate and recuperate – next year will bring its own opportunities and challenges – your job is to be in a position to take advantage of the opportunities and, as best as you can, overcome challenges.

From all of us at Aperture Accounting, we wish you and your families and loved ones the best for the upcoming season – no matter how you choose to celebrate it, be sure to spend time celebrating your own victories, strengths and successes!

We look forward to seeing you in 2019.