20 April 2012
"Get your mind to where your heart is, your heart is right"
This was the outcome of today's meeting, which changed my life once more.
For those who own, or are looking to start, their own business, I want to stress how important it is to have a couple of advisors or mentors, who believe in your company and what you're doing, behind you for support. You only need to meet with them every-so-often, but the time you do spend is worth more value than most assets.
I'm actually a mentor for a number of business, and hold all the credentials I need to be able to do it, but I will never reach the stage where I won't need an advisor myself - and in fact, Sir Alan Sugar, Duncan Bannatyne, and whoever else will need there's too, for one simple reason...
You can know everything you need to about business, and you can be the best person in the world to run it, but sometimes you just need someone to talk to about new ideas to speed up development. It's the same way that writers have their work checked/edited, to make sure it makes sense to everyone else before it's released.
So what changed my life today?
My business is heavily based on my passion - it is my life - but in the same vein, it has to remain extremely professional due to the services we offer. Today, it came to light that I have an internal conflict because of this. My heart creates the services, the jobs, the opportunities. My mind tries to justify them by clouding them with 'corporate bull-'. There are times that I create/plan from the heart, but then the mind can start to take over.
My advisor simply told me "Get your mind to where your heart is, your heart is right".
He was right, the plans and figures speak for them self - it didn't need justifying.
Moral? KISS -Keep it simple, stupid! Sometimes, all you need to do is explain what and how - if you make that clear enough, the benefits show through naturally, it justifies itself.
I rewrote the business plan services afterwards, and have set revision instructions for our website and other marketing channels. The new designs are presented from the heart - my heart, the driving force of the business.
Heart Over Mind • Opuss № I