Take Care of your Business

Buzz of the Day

Recently, I talked about having balance. Having other things going on so you don't feel so bogged down by that "one thing" in your life. I talked about doing things outside of work to obtain/maintain some balance.

Another thing that is extremely important is knowing your business, and taking care of your business.

These are two different things: Knowing your business at work is vital. You need to have an understanding of what goes on at your place of employment. I'm an account executive. I have a "book of business" that I manage. It is an absolute must that I understand the organizations that I provide training solutions to. How can I recommend a solution if I don't understand their business needs? I also must understand how things work within my own organization. From an operational standpoint, I must know the expectations of everyone.

Understand your business! Don't come in there with tunnel vision, because you will be lost regarding the grand scheme of things. Learn as much as you can. That's how you improve your performance and make yourself more valuable, and maximize your experience.

The second part of that is taking care of your own business. I will work all day, completing/submitting proposal for clients, making phone calls, and attending meetings. But when I get home, I don't feel like blogging or working on other projects not associated with work.

Not cool...We have to set aside time to do things that we need to do for ourselves! When you hear those financial advisers, they talk about "paying yourself first." The same thing applies to ventures outside of work. Dedicate time to yourself as if you were working for yourself. It sounds simple enough huh? However, we neglect ourselves and break our back for our employer.

I wrote a few lines in 2002 that explain it very well:

Promises are the hardest when they're made to ourselves,
But we break our back for the man cuz we gotta pay the bills.

The moral of the story is this: Stay on top of your game. Know what you're doing at work so you can understand the big picture, not just your picture. Take time for yourself and if you have projects away from work, give them the same effort as you would if it was for work.