How To Manage Success
You've struggled for years to get your small business off the
ground. You planned, marketed, sold, schmoozed. You spent
long hours with little rest. Then suddenly it comes: Success!
Did you PLAN for success?
Success brings with it another set of problems. Too much
paperwork, too many client wanting products and services
quickly, too many prospective clients tugging at your sleeves.
Never enough time to sit back and create a strategy or
direction for the future. But as your business grows and you
become successful, if you don't have a strategy for how to
manage success, you'll lose all the momentum you've built.
Whether you're already successful, or moving towards success,
here are some tips for managing your success wisely:
1. Celebrate your success. Big or small, each success must
be celebrated. It doesn't matter if you shout out a
little Whoopie! or if you call your best friend to
share the news. Just take time to celebrate each success
which will help build the momentum for more success to
come.
2. Don't choke. Choking is an emotional reaction to
success. It's a subconscious sabotaging of your success
because you believe at some level you don't deserve the
success. Instead, express gratitude for each small
success and admit that the success came because YOU
stepped into the arena, not because of luck.
3. Don't become complacent. Just because you've had one
small success doesn't mean you can sit back on your
laurels. (The same holds true if you just got that
million dollar contract!) Stick to your plan for growth
and the dream of business and lifestyle you've always
wanted. Take time to learn new things about your
industry, or learn new business skills that will take
you into the future.
4. Learn from your success. Just like we're all told to
learn from our failure, take time out to learn from your
successes. What did you do right that got you where you
are today? Which pieces of the success brought you the
most fulfillment and happiness?
5. Decide if you want to stay at the present level or grow
your business further. Once you've had a big success
it's time to decide if you're finally at the level where
you've always wanted to be, or if there's still another
goal you want to go after. Sometimes we just pile
success upon success without realizing that we created
the life we wanted 5 years ago and the rest has just
been Busy Work.
6. Take stock of the balance between your personal life and
your business life. Often success come with a lot of
personal sacrifice. Take time now to see where your
whole life might be out of balance and make a commitment
to have a whole, complete, successful LIFE, not just a
successful business.
7. Choose only the Real Opportunities that come across your
desk, and avoid the Good Ideas that won't help your
maintain or grow your business. With a high level of
success, the panic that you'll never have enough tends
to recede into the distance. Once this fear subsides,
you can take a look at the offers that come to you and
decide if they are a true opportunity that will take
you forward in your business, or just a good idea that
doesn't need to be acted upon by you.
8. Share your success lessons with others. Take time to
share your story with others so that they can learn from
your successes and failures. Give back to the community
and to the people who are just getting started as a way
to share your wisdom and belief about abundance.
9. Take a look at how your office runs. Is there any
process that should change? Is there anything that can
be automated? Now is the time to put some energy into
the administrative side of your business so that it can
continue to run smoothly into the future.
10. Create a new business plan and 5-year goal.
What's next for you and your business? Is it time to
grow some more? Move in a different direction? Offer
new products and services to diversify your revenue
source? Stop selling products and services that are
underperforming?
11. Watch out for saboteurs. Some people in your life
will not be happy about your success because they feel
threatened or jealous of it. Pay attention to how
people react to your success and surround yourself with
people who are truly happy for you and what you're
creating in your life.
Sometime handling success is harder than handling failure. By
taking time to celebrate your success and pay attention to the
lessons it offers, success can be more deeply meaningful and
fulfilling than you can ever expected.
© 2004 Karyn Greenstreet.
Karyn Greenstreet is a Self Employment expert and small
business coach. She shares tips, techniques and strategies
with self-employed people to create and grow their
businesses, stay focused and motivated, and perform at
their peak. Visit her website at
www.PassionForBusiness.com
See Also:
Back To Article Index
Find More Related Articles
