It all begins with a sound foundation.
As most of you know, I do not make it a practice to reprint articles from others, but I had to make an exception in this case.
This woman is good … real good. Take a read and let me hear your thoughts. Very much worth the time to read and internalize.
The questions at the bottom are designed to get you thinking straight. It all depends on “YOU.”
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Building Business Success
From the Ground Up
With a Sound Foundation
By Martha Pasternack, MCC – IAC
Like me, you have most likely learned that a strong business foundation is built upon efficient systems, up-to-date technology, and professional support from lawyers, accountants, coaches, and virtual assistants.
A few more of the most talked about business building tools are continuous email list development, shopping carts, blogs, videos and easily navigated web pages. We are encouraged to be prepared for fabulous success.
Don’t forget your business plan, marketing plan, social media plan, and information delivery plan. The pressure is on to be the expert in your field and to be unique in the market place. I get tired just thinking about it.
Now, I do not go with the notion that there are secrets or shortcuts to success of any kind. I simply don’t believe that. I do read the headlines before I buy the paper. Like this one:
NEWS FLASH! YOU ARE YOUR BUSINESS.
A builder of foundations will tell you that the first and most critical step is leveling the ground before the foundation can be created. That’s where YOU come in. Your business is built upon the ground called YOU.
Mike Marchev, author, speaker trainer and coach has given us the 12-word business plan:
Get up. Get out. And make more people glad they know you.
The operative word here as I see it is YOU. Who is the YOU people are going to be glad to know? I am not talking elevator speech here. I am talking about a deeply felt familiarity with the essence that makes you YOU. That makes you that expert. That makes you unique.
Too many of us forget that part. We forget about who and what we love and care about. We put aside our own wellbeing in service to others. We ignore our personal values in an effort to make-it-work in the market place. We bow to a disconnected notion of success as defined outside of our personal happiness. Jon Kabat-Zinn said it best when he wrote Wherever You Go, There You Are. There you have it.
Here are a lot of questions for you to consider as you build your business foundation based on YOU. Not all will resonate with you. Pick and choose but pay attention to which questions you skip over.
What do you love? What do you fear?
What do you care about?
What are you grateful for?
What do you really like about yourself?
What is your intention for your life rather than your business in this case? Why do you do what you do?
What are you committed to besides making money?
There will be plenty of time for that later on in the building process.
What are you passionate about?
Passionate people are attractive and passion can be contagious, sort of like yawning. What passion do you long to share with others?
Can you appreciate beauty? Music? Solitude? Silence? Or do those things make you nervous?
What makes you laugh? What makes you cry?
With whom do you share your stories about when you laugh and cry?
How attentive are you to your relationships with the people you care about? Do you yearn for more time with them? Is that time integral in your daily planning? Do you leave time for spontaneity or would that cause your heart to skip a beat?
How much time do you devote to creativity each day?
What arouses you mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically?
What do you make time for everyday that turns you on? mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically?
What nourishes you mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically?
What does compassionate self-care mean to you? Being active and being in motion are not necessarily the same things. What gets you moving?
How often do you get outside and commune with the natural world?
What personal dreams, goals and desires are supported by your business? Often it is set up he other way around. We make business our priority and make personal decisions around our business.
When we do that we are feeding our hunger for a joyful exhilarating life full of alert relaxation with the crumbs of leftover time. That is not sustainable for most of us.
What makes you feel stuck? Even people at the top of their game feel stuck sometimes. It’s ok.
How do you respond to stress? How do you release your stress?
The way you perceive stress will inform the way you can best release it. It is different for each of us. But stress will undermine a foundation just like a river running through sand that stress is left unacknowledged.
Ok one more question:
If your business suddenly crumbled around your ears, what would be left standing? Again, this is where YOU come in.
Consider leveling the foundation of your business with self-love, self-acceptance and compassionate self-care. Then build to your heart’s content from the ground up. The sky’s the limit.
If you want to explore ways to level your foundation that YOU will build your business upon check in with Mike here on his website or me at www.CircleofLifeCoach.com
I wish YOU solid success.
Martha Pasternack MCC-IAC www.CircleofLifeCoach.com
My passion for witnessing the beauty and mystery of life, healthy healing and the promotion of Peace on Earth are integral to my daily life. I have been life coaching since 2004 after working 30 years as a health care professional. I now am a regular contributor to the Huffington Post, The International Association of Coaching newsletter the VOICE and author of The Tao of Midlife and The Courage To Relax both available on Amazon Kindle.