Firstly, apologies for my absence during the last 2 weeks (what do you mean you didn’t notice?) But things have been particularly busy and I only blog when I’ve got time to write something (hopefully) useful and meaningful, not just dashing something off for the sake of getting a blog out that week!
So apart from having a lot of client work on at the moment, I’ve been delivering the strategic financial management workshops for the 2 funded growth programs that are running at the moment. This was for the D2N2 Scale up program at the University of Nottingham last week.
And also last week we won a rather fabulous contract to deliver monthly finance workshops for one of the most prestigious restaurant groups in London. I’m certainly looking forward to familiarising myself with their product!
Stress is Not Success
One of the main themes I teach when I’m running workshops and working with my clients is that Stress is Not Success.
Too often in business we continually push ourselves hard. Too hard to be healthy in fact. And we lose sight of what true success even means any more. It becomes about hitting deadlines, hitting sales targets, doing all the things we’re told we “must” do be successful, regardless of the personal price we pay.
The business world is full of really unhelpful advice like “if your dreams don’t scare you then they’re not big enough” and “if things feel under control then you’re not pushing yourself hard enough”.
I’m sure you’ve seen them on LinkedIn too!
And too many business owners wear their stress and long hours as a badge. I used to do this, I always knew how many hours I’d worked that week (and it was always a lot! It’s like being stressed makes us feel like we must be important and successful.
And I’m all for ambition and achieving stuff, as I’m sure you know, but I’ve learnt over the years that being stressed out to hell whilst doing it is not a smart way to live.
Part of my NLP Practitioner training has been learning about neurology and the impact of stress on the body and on business performance. This has been truly fascinating because I like facts, I like to understand the whys. For years people told me stress was bad for me, but it was all too abstract and I thought they just didn’t understand the drive for achievement.
So, these are my top 5 reasons why Stress is most definitely NOT success:
- Being stressed all the time is damaging and shrinking your brain! How’s that for a reason to cut the stress levels?
- Stress reduces your concentration, memory and ability to learn things – it shuts down the part of your brain you need for making decisions and thinking
- The hormones adrenalin and cortisol that are produced when we’re stressed can create long term damage to your heart, blood pressure, immune system, mental health and adrenal glands as well as causing anxiety, depression and mental illness
- Being stressed makes you a less nice person! You’ll probably be tired and irritable from not sleeping, always on a short fuse and won’t have quality time for the important people in your life
- If you’re stressed and working long hours then you’re probably not exercising – which is the most important thing we need to allow time for as it counter-acts the effects of stress and lets us cope with more without getting into a stress pattern
So, if stress isn’t success, then what is?
Well of course that depends on you, but the way I see it, we’re building a business to give us something in life. That could be a secure future, a big pay day when we sell one day, getting to do something you love, create employment and opportunity for others or build a legacy.
We need to be clear on why we’re doing what we do and hold onto that. I’m pretty certain your big plan was never to create a business that would damage your health, quality of life and relationships – but too many business owners end up with just that.
And what has this got to do with finance? Everything!
If you’re stressed then you’re unlikely to be thinking and planning clearly enough to make sure your business gives you what you want for your life.
And that is what managing your finances is all about in the end.