Monday, September 19, 2016

Nobody Is Perfect




The recent Paralympic Games have reminded us very well just how much is possible even with what we call a disability.

Many people have experienced things that have left them in a less than perfect way, In some cases this is clearly visible and easy to see. We compare ourselves to them and if we have all our limbs we look at them as though they be missing something that we have.

Yet not all situations that leave us less than able can be seen.

Stroke, brain injury from accidents or other causes. Kidney or liver problems, cancer, mental health problems are just some things we can face that may not show and yet leave us unable to do all that some others can do.

Even with everything working, we are all different. 

Some are good at communicating. Some are not. Some are good at maths while others of us don't process well that way or never really got the knack.

While technology is improving the abilities of those of us who have been faced with loss of a limb and given back mobility in a way that was once impossible we still look for differences instead of how we are alike.

The recent interest in Steampunk is fascinating as it looks back to the steam era and imagines a future work born of mechanics and clockwork. The images that are created as a fashion statement don't seek to hide difference but rather to enhance and make a feature of it.

So we move into a new time where jobs are still stuck in many cases much like in Victorian times even though technology has long moved on. We are capable of doing much more with less and yet we have people with disabilities trying to fit into a system that pretends to need traditional working habits of full time employment, even as the workforce is casualized and benefits denied to those who are willing and able to work full time and in fact would prefer that. At the same time, those who would like a more flexible arrangement are seen as being 'inferior' in some way from an employment point of view.

Instead of looking for differences from the norm, perhaps it is time to review what we consider to be "normal". The definition that we are using seems to me to be out of date and less than useful in the current environment.

Disabled, or not disabled the same things apply to us all.

We need to feel useful. We need to have something that satisfies our need for purposeful living. We need to be able earn money and to fit a life around our working hours.

We need encouragement when things don't go to plan. When life doesn't work out the way we hoped. Or when other stuff just gets in the way of us operating at full capacity.

Looking Forward

Do you need some encouragement?
Do you know someone else who could use some?

You probably do, though you may not have heard it from them.

We all need something to hope for. Something to push ourselves a little bit harder to achieve. Not because someone else expects it but because we do.

And that takes a certain amount of confidence to believe that we do - even though we may be less than perfect - deserve that.

Everyone is entitled to make some plans. Big plans, or small plans, it doesn't matter. Just put it out there in your future and set some memories of things that have not happened yet, that you want to reach.

Celebrate your difference.



Related:
Adding choices to life




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Tuesday, September 06, 2016

Idea: A Quick & Dirty Business Review


Too Busy For A Proper Business Plan?

If you are like many business owners, you may be so rushed with filling orders, paying bills and getting through the day-to-day crises, that there is just no time to get organized, and put your thoughts down into a business plan, or even know quite where to start. 
If this sounds like you, then a Fast Business Review might be the way to begin your process of getting control of your business, fix those things that have been left undone that will bring the business fast benefits, and cut through some of the clutter that can turn up in a business, and prevent better results than you could be getting now.

Getting Started

To get started on your review, take a few minutes and think about your business and how it operates every day. Think about what issues come up time and again and cause problems, and think about the improvements that you may have considered making in some parts of the business. 
Now make a list of the things that you would like in the business to work better, stop irritating you or improve your financial position. Is cash-flow an issue for the business, or is something else holding you back?

Make your Wish List.
  1.     Things you’d like more of
  2.     Things you’d like less of

Look At Your Business Objectively

Your business has a need to operate efficiently across a range of areas in order to work as effectively (and profitably) as it may.  Very often, business owners start out in a business because they have a skill in one area, and may be very adept at performing that technical skill. Of course there are more responsibilities that need to happen for the business to run smoothly.   


A good business needs a Vision for what it is to become, so that everything that happens in the business can reflect that and move the business in the direction of fulfilling that ambition. Employees need to know what the owner has in mind, in order to buy-in and help deliver that end result.   

It needs sound financial management and effective marketing so as to drive new business, and great customer service to ensure repeat business and referrals to drive that cash-flow which is the engine of any business.  

A business needs good employees and good employees need good systems to follow, good management to inspire their loyalty, and good standards for delivery of product and services. 

In each area of your business
Operations

Marketing

Financial Business Health

Sales

Customer Service

Service Delivery

Product & Service Standards

Information Technology

Employee Management

External Relationship Management

Procedures & Policies

Workplace Health & Safety
*Your business may have additional areas, EG Warehouse, Inventory management, Point of Sale, etc 

Review 
 
Write down the top 3 things in each section of the business you’d most like to change. 

Be sure to include all areas of the business. Be sure to include any items that are particularly prone to producing stress in the workplace for yourself, or friction with employees.

Commit

Write down the actions for each change that has to happen.
Write down the deadline for this to be finished.
Write down who is responsible for making this change happen.
Commit to this undertaking, no excuses.

Look At Your Strengths Objectively

As the business owner, the success of your business depends entirely on the quality of the decisions that you make. 

What are the strengths that you bring to the business?  What are those things within the business that only you can do? What are the things that you do in the business that someone else could do ... possibly better?

As the CEO of your own business, you understand that the needs of the business are separate from your needs as the Owner.  Some things that may be your preference may well be bad for the business. Understanding the clear boundaries here is critical. 


 
 If you'd like a copy of a form to use for a Quick & Dirty Business Review contact me and I'll send you one by email. 




Lindy Asimus
Business Coach
Mobile: 0403 365855
lindyasimus@gmail.com
www.lindyasimus.com

www.designbusinessengineering.com

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