social service sector; it is where your passion lies. Focus on that
client base only.” I took that thought home with me and what
resulted from that conversation was my Ah-Ha… moment. My
background is in many aspects of business development but my
passion is the social service arena. This realization helped me redesign the core of my business consulting model, focus on that
population as my target group, and add the tag line “The Human
Service Expert”. It has been passion driven journey ever since as
I focus on the skill sets that I love the most. Program Development, Consulting, and Inspirational Speaking within the Social
Service sector are my final answers.
MULTITASKING
David Rock, co-founder of the NeuroLeadership Institute
and author of Your Brain at Work (HarperCollins, 2009) states "A
distraction is an alert saying, ‘Orient your attention here now;
this could be dangerous’." The brain's reaction is automatic and
virtually unstoppable. While multitasking is an important skill, it
also has a downside. Rock goes on to say "It reduces our intelligence, literally dropping our IQ. We make mistakes, miss subtle
cues, fly off the handle when we shouldn't or spell things wrong.
Your brain's reward circuit lights up when you multitask.” All of
this is to say that you get an emotional high when you're doing
a lot at once. However, the question should be, are you being
productive?
THE BENEFITS OF BEING FOCUSED
Initially let's discuss
staying focused as a home
based business owner. I
understand that a primary concern and one which
fueled my unfocused behavior is the need to make
money. It is a catalyst that
often drives us to take on clients and projects just because “they
pay the bills”. I took seriously and thought about the ways others processed my skills and their feedback, and realized this is
the way I used to feel about my job - I was just doing ‘work’. It
was a defining moment and I made it a priority to focus more on
the area that I have intense passion for. Yes, money did decrease;
however, I love what I do and I have embraced that sometimes in
business you must practice deferred gratification skills and techniques for long term success and planning. Remaining focused
on your passion could also benefit social enterprise endeavors
as you become creative with funding, seek ways to leverage program income and have added impact with clients that are your
primary target group.
TAKE A STEP BACK…. WHAT IS YOUR PASSION?
We have been discussing the value of staying focused on
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your passion. However have you identified your passion? You
must recognize your passion which will guide the path to finding a focus area for your business model. For example, I am a
grant writer but I don’t get excited about the process. Yet on the
other hand I am dancing in my seat when it comes to creating
and developing programming. This could be a difficult task to
“divorce” yourself from skills sets that are often profitable and
only do what is driven by your passion. However, this process
is imperative in finding self-actualization, long-term satisfaction
and a sustainable business model. You can’t sustain what you
don’t love.
Lastly, seek mentors and consultants that will be able to assist because they have “been
there” and “done that”. This
business relationship will
also assist with focusing on
the passion of your skills or
the emotional drive of your
vision. Chu Nam, publisher of the Article Factory (www.Articlefactory.com), founder of Chunam Blog (www.chunam.com/
blog) and contributor to various blog platforms such as www.
ArticleBase.com which is the source of his tips which I’ve paraphrased.
1. Want it bad enough is the most important element to
help you stay focused on goals and achieve them. Goals
are very specific with you, so you need to write them
down to help you remember when you get distraction
in the future and check them when accomplish. Wanting it bad enough helps you understand what it really
means to you. It also keeps you motivated so they become a reality.
2. Always work with the most important things first. This
is a key in staying focused on goals which render the
highest impact – financially and personally. Look at your
progress because you will see something done or growing. You also be able to determine how much effort you
need to give. This way, you will get things done on time,
allowing you to maximize your time and resources.
3. We all get distracted at times and we have “tweaked” our
business models before, but make sure that you remain
focused on your passion so your business model will
yield much more success.
RESOURCES
Chu Nam: http://www.articlesbase.com/goal-setting-articles/staying-focused-on-goals-through-5-simpletips-7211111.html
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Boyd, Victoria, (2013). The Wealthy Teacher: Answering the
Question What’s Next?