Us humans naturally look at the romance of situations. ‘Oh wow, you went to Bali? Magical, I’m so jealous!’ In actual fact you spent seven of your ten days there with Bali belly, flying home a three-year-old banged your seat relentlessly and you got virtually no sleep, and the three days you did feel well you tried to fit so much in to make the trip worthwhile that you arrived home exhausted.

It’s the same in business.

‘Oh wow, you own your own business? That must be so great!’

Weeeeeell… the income is up and down. You work harder than you ever even knew you could, 7am or 11pm, Monday or Saturday, you’re doing something for your business. You love DOING what you do. But how to sell it? Sometimes you get lonely working on your own, and long for a team to work with. And when your business grows enough to hire people, you’re shocked by how much of your time goes into managing them! You’re still working insane hours!

If you learn to see the REALITY of situations before stepping into them you will save HEAPS of time, frustration and heart-ache. If you are brutally honest about what it will actually be like before embarking on new projects in business, you will enjoy the journey much more.

Maybe you’re thinking about starting a podcast, or creating an online course, or running workshops in all of Australia’s big cities. Great. The romance of all of those things is very appealing. Now sit down and REALLY assess the opportunities:

  • How much money and time will it take to produce 100 podcast episodes?
  • How much money and time will it take to market them effectively?
  • Realistically, at what point could you start receiving a monetary ROI on this investment (whether through growth to your business or ads).
  • And once that happens, how many months/years will it take to recoup your investment and start actually making money from it?

Ask yourself:

Why do I really want to make my own podcast? Is it to boost my credibility as a thought leader?

If so, what other strategies are there that achieve that, and how much time and money would they take?

Which would I LOVE doing the most?

The power of really seeing the REALITY of situations and opportunities means you have realistic expectations.

The number one thing that leads to business failure is giving up too early. Some people think it will only take three months to get their business going, and eight months in they still aren’t selling enough of their product or service. They start to really wonder if it’s time to pull the plug.

But if they had understood, before starting out, that it may take twelve to eighteen months, they wouldn’t have begun feeling dejected and low four months in.

And THAT can make all the difference.

And it works the other way too. Maybe you’ve been in business three years, and overall you’ve done well and your business is growing but man, it’s been hard work. You catch up with an old friend who is climbing the corporate ladder, and they talk about how much they’re enjoying leading a team of fifteen and working on the projects they have on; they just love their role.

You start to wonder – should I have stayed in my job?

They tell you all the positives of their role, and it sounds so much better than your working life. But don’t get fooled into thinking their job is rosy. Remember, they work hard, and are stressed, and probably struggle with managing their team at times, just like you sometimes struggle with your four employees. Sure, their salary is consistent, but it doesn’t have the ability to grow exponentially like yours. And they’re building someone else’s vision, not their own.

The fact of the matter is, there are pros and cons to both situations. THAT is the reality of life. Not only seeing your situation with clarity, but other peoples’ as well, means you don’t waste time feeling envious of another’s situation. You know it has its own heartaches.

Remember Vivian Greene’s wise words: “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass… It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”

Business IS hard. It rains a lot. But dance through that rain, having known from the beginning that it would pour down… rather often!