Its not often I get triggered. It used to happen so so often. Everyone thinks they have your best interests at heart and are experts at EVERYTHING. They know how you ‘should’ run your business and your life, despite having never ever ran their own venture and have worked for the same company for ten years plus.
Previously I would get defensive and have a mini rant about ‘you dont know what its like’ etc etc. I would take it personally and list all the things I have to do. To be be fair, and to be brutally honest, whilst I usually laugh it off now, this DOES still happen. It varies from the ridiculous questions (pizza business) “Have you not thought about doing campsites?” (Sarky Micky inside is saying in his head “What an AMAZING idea…why didnt I think of that!?” Or (massage business) “Why dont you do a Groupon offer or a special offers day” Reality – Done that before and you get the cheapskates that surf around for the cheapest offers around, and never return as regular customers. And so on.
My own circumstances. Its CHOICE. It took some time to realise this, I’m not gonna lie here. But ALL of it is MY choice. I’m an Entrepreneur. But really, I’m a Solopreneur. “I sail this ship alone” to quote The Beautiful South” Its my choice to :-
- Having a Partner/Girlfriend.... or in my case, NOT. Whilst I admit it getting a bit boring now after 2 years, I won’t sully myself with dating sites. They are simply brutal. But thats another days topic. Meeting anyone around where I live. Well, Its farmers and sheep. I don’t fancy the famers too much and the sheep are beginning to look attractive, so things need to change on this front. Soon! But being on your own, you need to accept that no-one is coming to your rescue or making you a cup of tea, Your choice, don’t moan about it.
- Its my choice to run this House on my own. I could think about getting a cleaner in, but for now, I do housework on non-working days and manage it as best I can. I stay on top of general cleanliness so my house is never in a right state. There’s no other option. If you decide to live like a tramp – then don’t complain about it . You chose that. Clear up after yourself!
- Work – I’m left to run all this myself. But over the last couple of years I have learned to delegate. Ask for help. Its essential and one of THE biggest forms of stress. It took me YEARS to finally relinquish some control on this. People are actually HAPPY to help (usually!) When you help someone out, you feel empowered and special. Making a difference, no matter how small, not only helps your friend, but makes YOU feel great too – Ask for help!
- My time is managed by me and me alone. As a one man band, you need to learn to say NO. You simply can’t do ALL of the things. And when you try to, something you are juggling, drops and breaks. The business, a relationship, your health. Learn to maximise your time. Batch your tasks as best as you can. If your nearest supermarket is ten miles away like it is for me and you need stuff in tomorrow. Then, if you happen to be driving past it at 9pm the day before, do it THEN. It will save an hour or more tomorrow. Constantly interrogate your schedule and look at ways to be more efficient. So you can do LESS not more.
So the next time you’re speaking to someone and they seem overwhelmed or are juggling a million things at once, rather than rushing in with life saving advice on subjects of which you have little or no experience of, take a moment to listen. By all means offer some opinions if they are genuinely good, valid points that would make a difference to the situation. But maybe ask ‘Would you like to know my own thoughts on this or how you could perhaps improve it?’ Or simply ask ‘How can I be of help to you?’ It could even be as simple as – I’ll stick the kettle on!
All you one man/woman juggling acts out there – lets hear your stories. Whats the most ridiculous ‘Helpful’ suggestions you’ve heard. Fellow Solopreneurs – what do YOU do to make life more managable? Please comment below.
(12 mins x 2!!)