Personal Development and Success Journaling

We hear a lot about, and understand the necessity of, consistency with strategy, visibility and all the other ‘external’ work it takes to start, run and grow a business.

We know it and understand it, but that doesn’t mean it feels easy to do, right.

But that’s understandable too, because when we focus on the external work, as well as having to learn new activities and push past discomfort to try new things, we’re engaged in a battle of worry, doubt and self talk questioning if we’re

=>Good enough

=>Know enough

=>Doing the ‘right’ thing and

=>Ever going to make this ‘business thing’ work and have the autonomy, flexibility and freedom we crave so that we can create a business (and therefore a life, right?) around what matters to us most. 

Does that sound familiar?

Then this post’s for you.

I’m a big ‘foundations’ person generally.

I’m really on board with the value of setting things up the right way, 

Putting the effort in up front so that things go more smoothly further down the line.

(For example, I like to tidy the house before going on holiday because I know the pain and frustration of doing otherwise. Anyone else hate coming home to a mess?)

And I’ve come to realise how beneficial this approach of paying attention to the foundations is in business too,

If you feel like the only thing that’s certain at the moment is that we’re facing a prolonged, worrying and changeable time, then you also know that you’re most definitely not alone.

We’re all affected by the spread of the coronavirus, we all have the opportunity here to be kind and help each other (albeit safely at a distance), and I know these are permanent desires of the people in this community.

But we’re also going to be affected in different ways professionally and personally depending on the nature of our businesses, the nature of our personal responsibilities and the situations around us that we simply can’t control.

Personal development is not a ‘nice to do’ activity in addition to the ‘work’ of our business.

It’s not a luxury that we don’t have time for.

As business owners and creatives, our personal development is a fundamental part of the success of our business or creative project.

Here’s why I say that:

In order for us to take action to get our work out into the world

To have the autonomy, flexibility, freedom

Success, fulfilment and impact we desire:

Focusing on our personal development as a business activity is a necessity.