Reveal a Fresh Perspective

This season invites us to declare a fresh break, upend the old habits, and reveal a new perspective.

How are you doing as the CEO of your life? Before you dive in and do all the things, have you determined the end result? What’s your vision of an ideal week or month, and are you working toward it? For some of us, being the chief executive includes running a business. For others, it doesn’t; either way, you’re the boss of you! This season of renewal is well-suited to asking yourself quality questions and proclaiming the answers.

Our brains love to go to work on answering our questions, whether they’re good or bad. There is such a thing as bad questions, ones that don’t serve you. Challenge your brain to think of answers that will excite you, require new skills, and open new doors. Don’t talk yourself out of what’s possible this year by asking the wrong things. For example, “Why doesn’t anything work for me?” “Why can’t I figure this out?” These are not inquiries you want your brilliant mind to answer. Instead, ask something like this: “What are ten new ideas to get the result I want?” Guide your brain to offer interesting choices, and be open to what you hear.

Consider that your questions send a message to clients, your team, and your family. Author Joe Dispenza, in his book Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself, prompts us to ask, “What am I broadcasting (consciously or unconsciously) on a daily basis?”

Write down questions that inspire your best ideas:

• How can I work less and earn more?

• What if it’s possible to…..write the book, get the job, close the client, start my business, experience more calm? What would that look like?

• What kind of mom/partner/friend do I want to be this year?

• What are ten new ways to reach my revenue goals?

• What are five fun ideas for a friend’s night out?

Complete the “What if it’s possible to….” sentence with whatever speaks to you, serves you, and helps you accomplish your mission.

Here’s my question for you…What are you willing to do differently this year to build the life you love?

Rules of the Road When You're Partners in Life and Business

Talking business over morning coffee, finances over lunch and operations at dinner. If you’re not careful, this is what happens when you’re married to your business partner. To some, this might seem exciting, others terrifying. Long term, I’d suggest that a constant integration of the two worlds isn’t optimal.

Walking the marriage/business partner line requires a different awareness level than working with a business partner who leaves at the end of the day. Here, our goal is to have both a successful business and a fulfilling marriage, and avoid having the business become all-consuming. This isn’t as easy as it sounds, especially when you’re both passionate about the business and like to work.

The single most important change we made to separate work and personal, was to get back to a regularly scheduled business meeting. No missing it for our favorite TV show, or because I need to practice yoga, or he wants to get to the gym. Nope, our meeting time is sacred.

Consider these points, and the value of a set partner meeting where business issues get addressed on a predicable schedule. By absorbing most of the casual discussion around business issues, this meeting leaves more personal time for enjoyable conversation (or naps!).

Make note of the topics you need to discuss. I admit, I’m normally the guilty one when it comes to bringing up business issues randomly. With a set meeting now, I document the things that pop into my mind on our white board. They’re all in one place and the majority don’t require an instant answer. The spontaneous peppering of questions, however innocent it may seem, isn’t a great way to set the mood at home. Plus, it’s important to have a focused conversation and not be addressing business issues while you’re trying to cook dinner or do the laundry.

Consistent data points. Create a set of data points so both people are informed of key metrics. For example, when one person is doing the finances, the other person needs to be updated consistently. Data eliminates gray areas of question. If both partners are buying products, in our case wood vs ceramics, we both need to know the current status of the income statement. Other data points include social media and email marketing metrics, and web analytics. My partner is the “maker” in the business, however, he’s also a co-founder. He has good, objective business insights even though he prefers the maker space.

Regular communication. Talking about issues such as the timing of shipments, the hand-off of projects, the arrival of items, is necessary. In our case, I need to know when the gift boxes will be in the studio and ready for fulfillment. I can’t get gift boxes the day they ship and he can’t be expected to hand-craft a gift box overnight. Surprises aren’t good, discussing timelines is critical to a streamlined process and lower blood pressure.

Plan time off for the year. We looked at calendars during our December meeting and set time off throughout the coming year. Now we don’t have to pry open a long weekend, in the midst of projects, which is way more stressful. We have some flexibility built in, however, it’s marked on our calendars.

I won’t kid you and say it’s a perfect plan. There’s still overlap. However, the scheduled meeting has cleared the way for more relaxing personal time together. Namaste!