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Find a Balance Between Self-Employment
and Yourself
Achieving a balance between yourself, as a person, and your
work should be your primary goal. Being your own boss,
running a business, requires a lot of time and effort. You
will be the main force in your business. If you are
not fully committed to your business, no one else will be,
and it will likely fail. It is especially important
to identify the intrinsic rewards that motivate
you, as compared to extrinsic ones like money.
The following exercise is highly recommended. Take
your time in doing it.
- Ask yourself, "What
things have I done that I did well, enjoyed doing, and feel
proud of?" Recall your past accomplishments, in or
out of work, and write them down.
- Choose your top seven. Write
the name of each one on a separate piece of paper.Then,
write down the strengths required by each one.
- Ask
someone to help you analyze your top two or three achievements. As
you describe
one of these experiences, they should listen carefully for
the strengths they required
and jot them down. They can ask "what" and "how" questions
for details, but
they should not ask "why" questions.
- When you finish, they should
quickly read the strengths they have written down. And,
then ask you, "How does this make you feel?"
- At the end, make a list
of the strengths you identified. Afterwards, underline
those that you enjoy using. These are a strong indication
of the intrinsic rewards you value.
Also, ask yourself, "What causes are important to me
as a person?" Write them down. Define causes broadly. They
could include social or political causes, devotion to family
life, your religion, the creative arts, or recreational activities.
Then, ask, "Will I be able to relate my business to
these causes?" "If not, will the time and
energy required to succeed with this business idea, allow
me time to participate in these causes after work?" If
the answer to these questions is "no", go back
to the drawing board for another business idea.
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