Thought Provoking Lessons In Business And Life

Last Friday (23rd January) I was facilitating my annual planning workshop, BluePrint in the Glenview Hotel, Wicklow.  As usual the event attracted a diverse mix of people and I’m always interested to see who comes.

For this particular workshop it turned out that everyone in the room was working for themselves – business owners, self-employed or freelance.  As a result the focus in the room was very interesting and useful lessons and ideas emerged from the creative and supportive space that was created.

A diverse range of ages was represented, it was about 50/50 male to female and there were various levels of business success in the room (some just starting, some well established with large companies).

Yet despite the variations, everyone slowly realised that we have way more in common than not.  And some interesting lessons emerged.

Some Lessons Learned By The Group:

• We only have 1 life – not my business life and my personal life.  It’s all just one.  And if any area is off, it usually has an effect on the others.
• My state of mind/mood is more under my control than I realised.
• My state of mind/mood determines the quality of my thinking.
• It’s okay and inevitable to have down days.
• My business/career should be a vehicle to enjoying a fulfilling life.  Yet it often becomes a prison.
• If a ship doesn’t have a port to sail to, then no wind is favourable. i.e. set objectives for yourself.
• I can decide to change direction (my goals) at any time if I choose to.
• My goals are not always my own.  In some cases I’ve accepted them from others – parents, society, others.
• Real wealth is discretionary time.
• It’s okay to turn my email and phone off…
• The mornings are key to focus on strategically important stuff.
• Am I being true to my self in my work? (authenticity)
• There are many things in my life to be grateful about – but am I seeing them?
• Help is everywhere if I need it – Am I willing to ask for it?
• Am I open to learning something new?
• One of the factors needed in creating a new future is to identify new skills to develop.
• Learning to enable clarity in my mind is a key skill for the future.
• We are always quick to judge other people – yet if we take the time to listen, there is always way more depth to the person than we initially thought.  And often their story has a hidden gem that will inspire us.

I am very lucky to be able to run a workshop like this as it always re-enforces to me that amazing things can happen and be enabled if we create space for ourselves.