I talk to a lot of small business owners, and while not all of them come out and ask me the above question, most hint at it. After years of sacrifice and hard work, they cannot see a clear light at the end of the tunnel. In many cases they are reviving groundhog day-esque examples of the repetitive cycle of routine business work. They suffer from the “I have to get up and do it all over again” syndrome. They have long since lost the excitement and passion associated with the concept of starting a business. Another day seems more like a prison sentence than an opportunity. I call this feeling sleepwalking.
We are all guilty of some form of sleepwalking in our lives. Just go in your car and take a trip. If you’re like me, most of what you see and experience while driving will be forgotten. The day to day becomes familiar and we navigate each week, absorbed by the urgent and too tired to be open to change. Sleepwalking and complacency go hand in hand, leading us down a dangerous path. Your business is killing you, because there is no end, goal, and exciting completion to all your hard work. And that’s not a fun place to be.
It does not have to be this way! Our business is a place designed by our imagination that has the potential to give us everything we need and want. I know it sounds silly, but stick with me. You made a conscious decision to go into business, didn’t you? You could make a conscious decision to hit a wall, but that would hurt, right? What I mean is that you made your decision because you wanted pleasure, not pain. So why are we so willing to accept pain as a result of our business?
The remedy lies in recommitting to your vision. Go back to the beginning by asking yourself these questions:
- What will my business look like when it’s finished?
- What do I love about my company?
- What do I hate about my company?
- What do I have to add to my company?
- What do we offer that has little real value for our customers?
- How do I want to interact with my creation time-wise?
- What would a better work-life balance look like?
Sleepwalking is dangerous. For your sake and that of the entire company, wake up! Everyone wants to feel like the owner has a vision, is excited and committed to the future. It’s hard to convey that passion if you’re a sleepwalker every day.
