BUSINESS
IS TOUGH. SO WHAT?
By
now you have been back from your holidays long enough to realise that
the New Year's resolution you made - you know, the one about not working
so hard
this year, not getting so stressed out, working at a more relaxed pace
- is just not going to happen. You have already spent sufficient time
in the
saddle to know that (a) your customers are even more demanding than
last year, (b) your competitors got smarter over the break, (c) your
boss got
the book, Managing by Fear and Intimidation, for Christmas and (d)
your staff made the same new year's resolution as you did but have
been more successful
in sticking to it.
Before you let all of this get you down, think about this for a moment: Life
is difficult. Now you might think this is a negative way of seeing the world.
But this is not a pessimist's view of the world. It is simply being realistic.
In the developing world, people spend 80% of their time gathering food, water
and firewood. For them there are no weekends, no Christmas break and no retirement.
Every day the cycle of working to survive starts all over again. Even in our
country accidents happen, people get diseases, and investments go sour. In
business we feel our competitors breathing down our necks; we struggle to make
staff understand; we battle with under-performing suppliers and we toil relentlessly
to satisfy our customers. Life is difficult. The sooner you accept this, the
sooner you will be able to get on with things. People re-build their lives
after natural disasters destroy their communities. Disabled people cope in
a world designed for able-bodied people and some even compete in the Special
Olympics. Parents handle the death of a child. And you have problems?
Expect that life will throw lots of problems at you and get on with it when
it does. Living is your job. Tough as it is, it usually beats the alternative!
In fact, the idea that life is difficult is quite motivating for business people.
After all, it is not easy for our customers to get their needs met and their
problems solved. That's good news because if it was easy, they would not want
to spend their hard-earned money with you. Your customers' difficulties are
your opportunities. Sure, it is not easy satisfying customers but again, this
is an opportunity. If it is hard for you, it will be hard for your competitors.
Do it well and you might gain a competitive advantage. Alternatively, someone
at work might ask you to do a difficult task. You could moan to yourself about
how tough it is or you could see it as a chance to use the skills, talents
and abilities that you have worked so hard to develop. Remember, if it was
easy to run the company, you might not have a job!
From years of experience as a clinical psychologist, I believe that most of
our stress is the result of unrealistic thinking. We expect things to go well
and when they do not we get knocked for six. "Hey, what's going on? Things
were supposed to be just fine and here they are all screwed up," we say
to ourselves. Hardly an attitude conducive to coping. Expect that life will
be difficult. Then when you encounter problems you will say to yourself, "Here
are the difficulties I expected. Now I have a chance to use my skills and my
experience. After all, this is my job." Life is difficult. Business is
tough. So what?
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