Are You Working On Fulfilment In Your Role or Business? As a coach to entrepreneurs and business owners, I have noticed that many no longer associate fulfillment and satisfaction with more money, power, and success.
It seems that fulfillment to them is all about changing the world, and legacy. In fact, customers today seem more attracted to companies with a higher purpose than profit, and will support companies in line with their own vision.
In all cases, we are convinced that whether you see personal fulfillment as more business success, or making the world a better place, there are some common strategies to implement that we can recommend.
Here are some key actions from the most satisfied business leaders that we work with:
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1. Develop your own plan to get where you want to go
Don’t count on someone else’s plan and priorities to work for you. However, if you have no plan, you probably won’t get there- or you certainly won’t be able to gauge your progress along the way. For most people, a truly fulfilled life means active pursuit and high engagement in pursuing your own goals.
2. Don’t wait for a crisis to decide what is important
Not only is this approach painful, it’s hard to think straight when you are down, or under pressure. Before you start your business, think hard about your vision for fulfillment, and write it down. Recognize that you can never control the precise sequence and timeline, and list some key costs, risks- and don’t forget the opportunities.
3. Assess your position and progress on a regular basis
We all learn from our actions and our mistakes, and the changes that are happening in the world every day. Pivots are a normal part of every business, and they have to be a part of your journey to fulfillment. Unless you take inventory of where you are, you won’t be able to adjust your path.
4. Assemble a complementary support team to help you
People in business can’t succeed or even survive as the lone ranger. Nor can they succeed surrounded by “yes” people or “helpers” rather than real help. We all have weaknesses, so doing a self SWOT exercise and taking the time to list our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats can highlight where we need to focus.
You can then build relationships with people who have complementary skills and insights is an important ingredient to fill any skill or knowledge gaps we may have.
5. Proactively attack fulfilment blockers, one by one
Too many people see the barriers to their fulfillment but wait and hope that all will magically go away, rather than facing each directly. In this respect, you cannot procrastinate. Don’t look the other way, or hope that things will change given more time. Decide and act to remove each barrier to fulfillment one by one, with objectivity and a positive attitude and they will go away! See the point 4 (personal ‘SWOT’ analysis) to give you some leverage in addressing these blockers.
6. Push yourself to get beyond your comfort zone.
Staying inside your comfort zone will ultimately become boring, and never give you a real sense of accomplishment and fulfillment. Every business will offer you many opportunities in this regard, including honing your communication skills, new business models, and exciting customer opportunities.
For example, Jeff Bezos credits much of his success and job satisfaction at Amazon to his strategy of often committing to new projects proposed by trusted internal teams, even though his comfort level disagrees. He enjoys the learning opportunities on offer from these calculated risks.
7. Mentor or share knowledge in what you have learned
One of the keys to my own fulfillment has been coaching, mentoring, and the giving-back of what we have learned along the way. This can include time, money, and skills transfer. Helping others has clarified my own thinking and solidified my own view of what is personally important in life and business.
8. Celebrate each step of progress along the way
It’s corny, we know, but self-fulfillment is a journey, not a destination. For me, this is something I know I don’t do, and it is a part of my SWOT with some actions to follow in 2021 to change.
It’s important to recognize and reward yourself even for small steps along the way. This can be done by taking some time off for that special trip, or spending a day treating yourself to some fun when you achieve a key milestone, such as first profitability. When I have done this, both for myself or with others, I come back recharged to go again!
As a coach, the best evidence you can provide on the road to self-fulfillment is espousing that you are doing what you love, and you love what you do. All too rarely, I hear entrepreneurs and/ or business owners saying they can’t believe they are being paid for the “work” they do.
You, too, can prove that fulfillment can lead to success, but success doesn’t necessarily lead to fulfillment.
If you want to talk more about this and other ways to set yourself and your business up for 2021, please email me – I would love to hear what your plans are.
Until next week, go well and keep on scaling!
Nick Fagan & The Next Practice Team
