One dear friend have told me on several occasions that I think more of a business person now.
Our thinking is mostly influenced of where we are and what we do. In the end, these things makes us who we are. When we first met a few years back, we were both part of the civil service. She was with a military organization and I am with a financial institution. It was a position that demanded the fulfillment of a single important obligation: service. As a part of that world then, I was thinking and acting in light of the requisites of the job.
Fast forward to a few years later having worked in the private sector and ventured in the emerging industry of homebased online professionals, I became business-oriented. Entrepreneurial. Things like time and brand became the leverage by which I can make or break my future. It demanded a paradigm shift, in order for me to remain capable and competitive.
The change is not as big for me as it is for some. It’s just a difference in the norms and orientation. Public service is a must at all costs, even if it’s a losing proposition – simply because it is the mandate of government: to deliver services to all of its constituents. Business on the other hand requires not just viability but profitability simply because business exists to solve the clients’ problems but it can’t keep doing that if its funds were to dry up. Some thinks profit should come at all costs but there are an admirable few who believes businesses can be run in moral, ethical and legal ways. (And I aspire to be one of them.)
I’d like to think that this brief stint in business has done me good and taught me quite a few things.
While there has been a change in my perspective, I would like to believe that it’s a change for something better. After all, these things that we learn and know becomes part of our personal arsenal that we can bring to the table to help and serve those around us, specially those that needs in most. Each new skill acquired and increasing mastery of those that you already know is something that will benefit you and your organization, regardless of what kind of organization it is, period.
Treating your affairs in  a business-like manner shouldn’t be that bad just make sure that you run your business well – underpromise and overdeliver, at the very least be transparent and direct to the point and don’t set people’s expectations too high for you to meet because it is your face, your name and your brand on the line. Each encounter you make should be carefully taken. Each risk, calculated. Don’t act like you’ve got nothing to lose when you do. People are forgiving but severed ties and burned bridges can be irreparable, remember not to be so reckless.
Sir Richard Branson (methinks) said that business is not just something you do but it’s who you are. So be sure to do it with integrity.
Be mindful of these things and more importantly be mindful of your time. Don’t just spend it carelessly. Tim Ferriss wrote that time is the new currency. Therefore, always, always ask yourself how much your time is worth and how much of it can you afford to lose. If there’s not that plenty, then save and invest it. Save time pondering setbacks and rejections and use it to accomplish other things you need done. Better still, invest it in developing yourself – read books or schedule coaching time with a mentor.
By treating time as a very scarce commodity, certain aspects of your life might suffer because you can’t always go out and have fun whenever you please. Your days will be governed by your planner. You won’t own your time, it belongs to your commitments and this commitments are tied to your dreams, more importantly, tied to your name. This is a challenge that will require a huge discipline muscle. If you don’t have it yet, here, now is a perfectly good exercise to develop it.
Even if you already have one, that’s great. Remember that, it will require constant and conscious realignment of your priorities and purpose. You always have to check yourself, never growing too confident that you have made it. Complacency has historically been known to kill businesses and people’s reputations.
Keep in mind that no matter where you are, service is a choice you can freely make anytime, anywhere. However, the quality of service you can offer is often determined by how much of the constraints to serving you have eliminated.
Beth Vargas' Blog 