Scrooge Your Career

Perhaps you have found yourself watching the movie A Christmas Carol, Scrooged, or another version of the Dickens story of personal redemption. Let's consider this story with an eye to our careers or businesses. We cannot change the past, the present is of our own making, and all that remains under our control is our future. Or does it?

I know I have seen and heard many friends with a spirit of despair when it comes to their economic future. We feel betrayed by big industry's failings, our state's poor choices, our employers for not planning for darker times. Do you feel frustrated by customers unable to afford your great product or service? Just as Ebenezer Scrooge looked to Christmas Past and Present with horror, we too can share his joy in looking to our futures. We can shake off what we can't change and change course, look to new directions, find something in yourself that was obscured to you and bring it front and center. Be bold.

Scrooge needed to learn to be generous in spirit with others. I',m going to guess that you've been doing that all along and the neglected one is.... YOU! These are times for Bold Change. Do not be discouraged by the economy we live in. Refuse to participate. Look to the new decade as your personal milestone of great change and growth, just as Scrooge does.

So where do you start with this Bold Change? Here are some questions to ask yourself:

• "What would I do with a million dollars?" You just may find that some of your ideas don't cost a million dollars at all, in fact they may cost nothing.
• "Why do I do what I do for a living?" Again you may be surprised. Is it because you are afraid or just comfortable? What is the back burner career you have dreamed of making real?
  
• "If I were to be assured that my circle of friends and family would support a change in my career/business/economic standing, what would I do differently?" When you've answered that, consider why you care so much about what other people think!

Your future is yours. Isn't that great? Don't be a captive of routine or expectation. Be bold and unafraid. Go back to school, relocate, kick your grown kids out of house, change the way you promote yourself and your business. Just do something to take charge of your future.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Life!
Your friend, Mary Rogers

Chick in Charge of Time

Time is money.
Time is money!
Time is money?

However you approach the phrase, it may help you to think of the value of your time as, well... actual cash. I'm not thinking of billable hours or the income you can produce in an hour, but the satisfaction of being alive for that day, hour or minute.

We all have the same time budget, 24 hours each day, 7 days each week, and so on. How do you spend your time? Does your spending align with your values and priorities? Like anything else, our priorities shift with. Have you adjusted your time spending as well?

Routines are hard to change and can become written in stone simply because we are creatures of habit.

Here are two examples:

On the professional side: Sarah has always done the bookkeeping for her pottery supply business. She was told early on that this was a simple task with QuickBooks and that it was extremely important to have a complete understanding and awareness of the business finances. As much as Sarah hates bookkeeping, she accepted that it simply must be done. Over the years, the business has grown and now she finds that 40% of her time goes to managing the books, payroll, accounts receivables.

At home: Sarah has always felt that girlfriend time is sacred. Her work is very draining and she has been committed to keeping up with her monthly book club. She always comes prepared, having read the book selection if she wanted to or not. With the business growing, her girlfriend time is more limited, and the reading time is keeping her up nights, furiously trying to finish each book. Sarah considers dropping out, but she adores the time with her friends.

What to do: If time gobblers are causing you stress, give the situation some perspective. Why are you doing things this way? What do I gain from this? How could I change things and still get what I want? Sometimes, just explaining the situation to a friend, thinking out loud, can bring clarity you were missing.

Poor Sarah! Clearly she needs to either hire a bookkeeper or outsource the work. Every business owner goes through this growing pain and the bookkeeping is the first thing to unload from the owner's list of responsibilities. For many in her shoes, NOT hiring a bookkeeper has stunted the growth of the business because the owner was too busy sweating the drudgery.

As for the book club, she may be surprised to find that her friends feel the same way she does. She needs to try converting the book club into something that works for her. Maybe the restaurant of the month dining club? A wine tasting group? Her club isn't the problem, the BOOK is.

Finding time. Take a moment to consider your weekly or monthly obligations. Are they truly a good use of your time or fruitless routines? Is the annual vacation with your old college roommates really where you want to be each year, or is it one of those, "But we ALWAYS go to Vegas the 3rd week of whatever!"?

What about the morning sales meeting? Could it be 3 times a week? Does it really need to be EVERY day. Are you missing out on your kid's bedtime because of a silly TV show that you USED to like. Old habits die hard. Clean up your calendar!