If your life was a business would you invest in it?

Using your business thinking to positively impact the rest of your life.

How often do you hear people complaining about their lives? Blaming the government, the boss didn’t do such and such, the state of the economy or even the weather. And yet all of us have the option to take total – yes, total – responsibility for our lives, our actions and our results.

Let’s look at this another way. Imagine that YOU are a business…

Bear with me now…

You as a business, let’s call it Me, Myself and I Ltd, or even better – Me, Myself and I Unlimited, is a company, your company, with unlimited potential to maximise the results of whatever you set your heart and mind upon.

If you believe in fate then you may want to skip this next short paragraph! (Although I would much rather you carry on reading). There is no such thing as fate (there, I said it) – I believe that a series of choices and decisions that we make get us to where we are. There are of course external factors that affect our life journey (and aside from naturally occurring things, all of these are based on decisions and choices that other people make). The whole mental process begins with knowing that you are in control of your own destiny, that you always have a choice – the choice to react to anything that happens in your life however you want to react. This does not mean that you or I have to have a selfish attitude to others in our lives, far from it. By being the boss, by being in control, by taking responsibility we set ourselves up for success and, by so doing, help others around us accomplish their goals and maximise their potential.

If we blame others for the things that happen to us, then we will be dependent on others for our feelings of self-worth or self-esteem. Remember that the things that happen to us are merely a stimulus – we control how we react.

The way we can accomplish our own goals, the way we can support our families, the way in which we can contribute to the society in which we live is to be the boss, the president, and the chair of the board of our most important company Me, Myself and I Unlimited.

In any business there are a number of roles…here are seven examples:

1. Chair Person

2. Sales and Marketing Director

3. Finance Director

4. HR, Administration and Planning Director

5. Learning and Development Director

6. Communications Director

7. Health and Wellness Director

All in all, seven hats to wear, seven people in one person, seven responsibilities, all up to one person…YOU.

Please see below for some thought provoking questions to help stimulate your thinking. Be honest with your answers - remember that this is about YOU as a business (not your actual business).

1. Chair Person

How does your attitude or your general demeanour impact those around you?

How do you engage with others around you and help involve them in discussions?

What do you do to create a fun environment for those around you?

2. Sales & Marketing Director

Do you know what your personal brand is and are you selling it in the right market place(s)?

Do you know where you want to take your career and your life?

How confident are you that you can win/achieve your ambitions and dreams?

3. Finance Director

How confident are you that you are in control of your personal finances?

Can you afford what you want to in life?

Have you made suitable plans to be able to achieve your personal financial aspirations?

4. HR, Administration and Planning Director

How would you rate your time management?

How in control do you feel of the different pressures that you have on you?

How organised would you say that you are?

5. Learning and Development Director

What space do you make to allow creative thinking?

When was the last time you had a new experience/learned something new?

How do you grow yourself and stretch yourself as a person?

6. Communications Director

How effectively do you communicate with your team, your boss, your customers and your family & friends?

How do you build relationships and understanding of others outside of your direct team?

How well do you communicate and build relationships with those people that you are not so keen on?

7. Health and Wellness Director

How comfortable are you with your personal fitness & health?

How would you rate your energy levels?

How do you have fun in your life?

How comfortable are you with your life-work balance?

You may have noticed that all of these sections have three questions apart from the final one – Health & Wellness, which is arguably the most important – without that, the others fall apart anyway.

Take some time to consider your responses to the questions above and then consider some actions you can now take that will have a positive impact on your life.

Finally…ask yourself:

“If my life was a business would I invest in it?”