Canadian Small Business Women

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3 Reasons Self-Reflection Matters In Business

Reflection_1

In a life of business, it can become tempting to look forward and outward. You’re always striving for success, dealing with competition, and looking to better yourself, your company, or both. There are external forces at work, and there’s always someplace higher to climb. This is good. It’s a spirit of pursuit that drives some of the most successful people in business! But I’d also argue that it’s important for anyone who hopes to be successful in this kind of environment to learn the value of self-reflection. With so much focus outward and upward, here are three reasons I’d argue looking inward matters, too.

1. You Can Understand Yourself Better

The clearest benefit of self-reflection is that it can help you to gain a better understanding of your own personality or tendencies. This is true both in general and with regard to your performance in business. Self-reflection is the process of asking yourself questions to develop a deeper level of understanding about yourself, as stated in a blog post at a tech communications site. It’s actually one of the more effective definitions out there. You simply get to know yourself better, and you do so in a way that can allow you to better shape yourself as an business owner, employee, or entrepreneur.

2. You Can View Your Own Development

In addition to gaining a better understanding of yourself in a given moment or situation, self-reflection can also help you to better view how you’ve developed over time, and what that development might say about you. At an online coaching platform for MBA applicants, one student discusses the benefit of making sense of previous experiences while writing about himself. This in essence is another way of saying that through self-reflection, this student gained a more thorough understanding of what had driven him to a given point, including successes and failures. Feeling out your own history this way can help you to understand what works and what doesn’t work for you, and it can influence your actions moving forward in a very real way.

3. You Can Increase Your Leadership Capacity

It falls in line with the idea of understanding yourself and your own tendencies. However, an article at LinkedIn pointed out that self-reflection in a business environment can also help you to gain an increased awareness of problematic performance traits, the same way you might look to recognize them in employees or co-workers. With this in mind, you can actually approach self-reflection almost as a kind of performance review for yourself, particularly if you happen to be in a position of leadership. You can recognize problematic traits and address them so as to become a more effective leader and co-worker.

It’s always a good idea to look inside, perhaps particularly so when you’re in the middle of a fast-paced, competitive work environment. With too much focus on external forces and the drive forward, you can easily lose sight of what it is that makes you effective in your job, or what it is you might need to work on. Taking regular time for self-reflection can work wonders.

Patti Conner

Why It Is Important To Keep Growing

 

 

Malene Jorgensen

 

 

As business owners, we start out with a business idea. That business idea gets altered, changed, developed and broken down during the business planning process. Here, we test the idea, examine our concepts and really figure out if this is indeed a viable business idea.

But part of the business planning is also looking at how the business idea could develop over time. We may start with one product or service, and be so invested in this one idea that we can’t look at other ways to build the business.

It is important to keep developing your business brand, because any given industry is changing constantly. New software programs are introduced, new business tools become available and your customers may want new things. It is important to have ideas as to how you can develop your business down the line.

While this planning may not be something you are thinking about as you start out, it is always good to have some ideas brewing. Like a business plan, these ideas will change with time. What you may see happening during your first year in business may completely change once you reach the third year.

With a plan in mind to grow your company, you may find yourself needing more experience and education. And self-growth is the key to running a successful business.

So – get going! Create a long list of ideas to assist you in future growth.

Malene Jorgensen is an entrepreneur, author and speaker. Jorgensen is passionate about online content, blogging, online business development and e-commerce. She owns an international media publishing company and a design studio. Jorgensen has written several books that are sold in over 50 countries. She is also obsessed with coffee and Twitter. You can reach Malene Jorgensen at Website | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram

What’s your definition of success?

Uchechi

If you’re a business owner, then it’s fair to say you’re in a state of constant striving. Whether it’s striving for increase in sales, profit, customers or client engagement, there is always some goal that you have and are always chasing. To be honest, I would say everyone fits this criterion, because it is a human need to always be reaching and striving for more success in our lives. 

It’s a good thing to strive for success and reach beyond where you’re at, but it’s also important to really sit down and define what that success means to you.  What does it look like? Oftentimes, we tend to strive for what others have put in our head as to what’s important. Or we see other’s, who we feel are successful and go after the same thing, not recognizing what it took for them to get there and more importantly what it’s costing them to maintain it.

I’ve had conversations with small business owners who want to turn their business into a huge empire. This is all well and good, but then they also tell me that family and time is #1, and they want to have flexibility to travel the world at leisure without being tied to things, and work minimum hours. Now, can you see how building and sustaining a huge empire and leisure time and family life may conflict? Also those that they admire in business who have built a huge empire are the very ones that say it cost them leisure time and quality family life. However, these individuals who are striving for this, do not take a look at the whole picture and to see if that definition of success (business empire) fits within their own definition of success. If it does not allow them to have quality family relationship and time, I say it does not fit within their definition. It is important to take a holistic look at what is it you want, and are chasing and see if it fits into your core beliefs and values. 

Another important reason to define what success means to you, is because it allows you to have a clear picture of what you want. I read somewhere that ‘you cannot achieve that which you cannot define’. Once you define it, you will have a clear picture of what it is you’re chasing after. You will also recognize all the opportunities that aligns with it, plus ones that may not be the right fit for you.

Your definition of success will change over time and that’s okay. Once you hit one goal, you will then have the need to hit another, which is a human condition that we all have.

We also go through periods of growth and development and what once was important is no longer so. This happened in my life. About 7 years ago, my sister and I opened up a 3000sqft wellness centre with a spa, fitness & yoga studio, and therapy clinic, employing various alternative health care practitioners. Now at that time, I was single and my sister and I did not have any kids. Over time, that wellness centre although it began to grow with more opportunities coming to us, demanded more of our time and energy managing such a large facility with so many staff and contractors. I remember how difficult and stressful it was for me shortly after having my son and trying to manage that business and being a new mom. Fast forward to now where my sister and I both have two kids each and time and family taking #1 priority in our lives. It became clear over the years that that particular dream of a big wellness center, was not in alignment to our core desires, especially during this stage of our life. We later sold the centre and transitioned our business into one where we can manage from both our home offices, with fewer overheads and staff to manage. This now fits our definition of success. 

So I challenge you this week to take a look at what “success” looks like for your business and share it with our community below!

 

Uchechi Ezurike-Bosse is a Business & Lifestyle Strategist, Speaker and Writer, but most importantly, a proud Mother and Wife. Uchechi is Founder of My Empowered Living (http://www.myempoweredliving.com) a website aimed at helping women shift their mindset and live their passion! Whether it’s starting and building their dream business, or helping them create a lifestyle they crave, Uchechi is the modern woman’s secret to success! Visit Uchechi at www.myempoweredliving.com to get her FREE online video training series The 4 Keys to your Business Success! This free 4-day business training reveals her 4 key strategies needed to build a profitable and successful business, and how to put them to work in your business!

Do your beliefs about your business really matter?

Uchechi

“If you believe you can, you probably can. If you believe you won’t, you most assuredly won’t. Belief is the ignition switch that gets you off the launching pad.”

~Denis Waitley

I’ve heard it said that business ownership is one of the best personal development tools you can ever take on. Think about it, what platforms pushes you to step outside of your comfort zone, face rejection and criticism on a daily basis and strive to become better every day? It places you in a vulnerable place and requires you to push past your comfort zone, and have confidence and the utmost belief in yourself and your business.

This is why cultivating the right mindset is critical to your business success. What are your core beliefs about your business success? Do you believe in your products and services? Do you have faith in your unique gifts and know that you are making a difference in the lives of your clients and customers? It is important to remember that your beliefs about yourself, brand and business are critical to your success. They act as a magnet that draws circumstances consistent to it into your life. Plainly stated your beliefs will manifest into physical form, and you will experience evidence to prove them correct; thus creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Many business owners doubt themselves and their ability to provide excellent service. They do this through not charging enough, by not asking for the sale or feeling that others have more knowledge and expertise than they do. They tend to play small and oftentimes treat their business as a hobby. They also fear both success and failure due to the unknown and what it may mean.

I once read that two ingredients needed for success is belief + time. The higher the belief the less time needed to succeed. However, the lower your belief the more time it will take to achieve it. Your beliefs are so powerful and once you grasp its power, it will help propel you forward to start living the life you want. It may be difficult at first, but the more you practice this the easier it becomes and the more you will see your outer circumstances reflecting your new empowered beliefs.

If you’re business is not flourishing as it should and you feel that you are not making ends meet, it is important to look at the root cause and your subconscious beliefs about your business. On the surface, it may appear that all business owners want the best, but many times there is an underlining limiting belief that is holding them back from the success that they crave and deserve. It is really crucial to dig deep and uncover what they are and begin to replace them with empowering ones. You do not have to work to remove the negative ones, because that is a difficult task. The best approach is to start feeding your mind with new empowering thoughts, and in time it will expand and there will be less room for the negative limiting beliefs that oftentimes holds most business owners back.

If you are lacking belief in your business, you need to re-program your mind, and change your mind-set about what is possible for your business. Your mind acts like a powerful computer and it is up to you to program empowering beliefs that will lead to your success. The great news is that it is up to you and under your control. You just need to harness this power, which will translate to you enjoying a successful profitable business that you deserve!

 

Uchechi Ezurike-Bosse is a Business & Lifestyle Strategist, Speaker and Writer, but most importantly, a proud Mother and Wife. Uchechi is Co-Founder of Elite Wellness Services Inc. (www.elitewellness.ca) and Founder of My Empowered Living (www.myempoweredliving.com) a website aimed at helping women change negative and disempowering mindset and live their passion! Whether it’s starting and building their dream business, or helping them create a lifestyle they crave, Uchechi is the modern woman’s secret to success! Visit Uchechi at www.myempoweredliving.com to get your FREE copy of 5 Simple Steps to Create a Life you’re Crazy About! A 15-page workbook!

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