Small
Business Tools and Resources
All Guts, No Glory
by Terri Lonier, President, Working Solo, Inc. (www.workingsolo.com)
Most of us launch our entrepreneurial journeys in solo kayaks
on relatively smooth water. Often, the seas get choppy, and we
have to navigate with focus and care. But sometimes, a major
storm hits, often without warning. Then we have to decide
whether to ride it out, abandon ship, or try to find a new
course - all while hanging on for dear life and battling the
disorientation of being tossed around, and the mounting
exhaustion.
If your business is facing a hurricane of negative events,
sometimes you have to dig deep inside and tap your reserves of
inner strength. That's when it's all guts, and no glory - a
test of your own entrepreneurial courage. Here are some things
to keep in mind to help you weather the storm:
1. Create alternative scenarios. It's easy to get trapped into
a continuous reply of the negative situation in which you find
yourself. Push yourself to play out the mental chess game for
three or four more moves, and explore alternative outcomes. It
will increase your sense of control, and give you a better
perspective on the current condition.
2. Write it down. Do a regular mental brain dump, on paper.
This will clear your head and improve your decision-making
ability. Don't worry if it doesn't make sense or isn't
grammatically perfect - the goal is to get it out of your head
so you can make room for other, less toxic, thoughts. (Check
out Julia Cameron's book, "The Artist's Way," for more on this
approach.)
3. Talk it out. Confide in trusted friends and colleagues.
(Often, this is not family members - they may be terrified of
your troubles, and will only add to your stress level.)
Sometimes articulating the challenges will bring you new
insights about how best to handle them.
4. Take care of yourself. Courage is a strong emotion, and
it's draining. Listen to that inner caretaker and make sure
you get enough exercise, sleep, and proper food. And yes, take
your vitamins, too - you'll need them.
5. Set realistic expectations. A friend of mine once wrote a
song titled, "Treading Water Can Save Your Life." I thought of
it often as I rode out a major business storm a few years ago.
When facing tough times, sometimes it takes all your strength
just to hang on. That's OK. It's not the time to launch
ambitious new plans. Give yourself permission to tread water
for a while.
6. Don't be a hermit. You may want to hide, but it likely will
only make things worse. Get out, go to a movie, read some
escape novel. Get physical with a round of golf, a game of
tennis, or several laps in a pool. Shift your environment so
you can shift your attitude.
7. Understand the cycle. From past experiences with business
land mines, I know myself well enough to chart the cycle:
explosive event, followed by shock, anger, recovery. It
usually runs about 90-120 days. Of course, in the middle of
it, it's nearly impossible to be consoled by the rationality
of a timeline. Yet I've experienced it enough during my two
decades of business life - as have numerous entrepreneurial
colleagues -- to know it runs this course. If you're in the
midst of tough times, step back and assess where you are in
the cycle.
Every storm passes -- although not every ship (or its captain)
survives. During tests of entrepreneurial courage, it's
important to keep an outside perspective, to place the current
situation in context. Make the best decisions you can, and gut
it out.
Once the seas have calmed, several things will happen: 1)
you'll be glad that this rocky business phase is over; 2)
you'll be in awe that you survived it; and 3) you'll be
remarkable stronger, and better prepared, when the next storm
(inevitably) hits.
Copyright 2005 Working Solo, Inc. All rights reserved.
Terri Lonier is a business coach who guides business owners on
how to generate greater profits -- and have more fun - while
running your company. One of the nation's most respected
authorities on self-employment and entrepreneurship, Terri is
author of five books, including the classic startup guide,
"Working Solo." Her work has been featured in the New York
Times, the Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Fast Company, Inc.,
and on CNBC, CNN/fn, and radio stations around the world. You
can learn more about Terri and her Pathfinder Coaching Program
at her Working Solo Web site, http://www.workingsolo.com
Past Terri
Lonier Articles
Bio Note:
Terri Lonier is a business coach who guides business owners on
how to generate greater profits -- and have more fun – while
running your company. One of the nation’s most respected
authorities on self-employment and entrepreneurship, Terri is
author of five books, including the classic startup guide,
“Working Solo.” Her work has been featured in the New York
Times, the Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Fast Company, Inc.,
and on CNBC, CNN/fn, and radio stations around the world. You
can learn more about Terri and her Pathfinder Coaching Program
at her Working Solo Web site, http://www.workingsolo.com
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