Monday, September 05, 2005
Business Skills = Life Skills (Accountability)
In life, there is no such thing as going it alone. When we do things on our own, we tend to procrastinate and take shortcuts that result in our lives being less than they could be. We need to see our efforts through the eyes of others who are willing to hold us accountable for being our best.
The same goes in business. Sure, maybe you decided to start your own business to get away from bosses looking over your shoulder to make sure you get things done. Maybe you decided to go into business because you like the freedom that working from home promises.
But the fact is, we're social creatures. We need human contact. If you're going into business online in the hope of making a living while avoiding human contact, you're doomed to failure. With no one to measure our work against, our work gradually deteriorates. Distractions become more urgent than the work at hand. Quality slips. And worst of all, we start rationalizing away the deteriorating level of our work.
I've seen it happen in me and I've seen it happen in others.
We need others who will hold us accountable for meeting our self-imposed deadlines and milestones, someone we can bounce ideas off of, someone who can see the blind spots we're developing and call us on them.
It's not a sign of weakness to seek out mentors. Even the most successful business people have mentors. And it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that ALL successful business people have mentors.
We just aren't made to go it entirely alone.
Jeff
In life, there is no such thing as going it alone. When we do things on our own, we tend to procrastinate and take shortcuts that result in our lives being less than they could be. We need to see our efforts through the eyes of others who are willing to hold us accountable for being our best.
The same goes in business. Sure, maybe you decided to start your own business to get away from bosses looking over your shoulder to make sure you get things done. Maybe you decided to go into business because you like the freedom that working from home promises.
But the fact is, we're social creatures. We need human contact. If you're going into business online in the hope of making a living while avoiding human contact, you're doomed to failure. With no one to measure our work against, our work gradually deteriorates. Distractions become more urgent than the work at hand. Quality slips. And worst of all, we start rationalizing away the deteriorating level of our work.
I've seen it happen in me and I've seen it happen in others.
We need others who will hold us accountable for meeting our self-imposed deadlines and milestones, someone we can bounce ideas off of, someone who can see the blind spots we're developing and call us on them.
It's not a sign of weakness to seek out mentors. Even the most successful business people have mentors. And it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that ALL successful business people have mentors.
We just aren't made to go it entirely alone.
Jeff
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