By, Christan Summers
www.ebbandpflowlookbook.tumblr.com
Christan@ebbandpflow.com
So, I am not an expert. I am an entrepreneur. I am a designer and a woman entrepreneur.
It is not easy to be an entrepreneur, and to be a successful entrepreneur is more challenging. I fight everyday against anxiety, fear, sleepless nights, balance of life and work, investment and paying the bills. Those are the negatives.
The positives, they are beautiful and they make it all worth it. But what is it really like? Everyone has a different experience, everyone will work differently and succeed differently. For me, being an entrepreneur is a constant test of my strength and ability. You have to learn how to pace yourself, learn patience, no expectations. Expect nothing, strive toward your own goal and work as hard as you want.
As an entrepreneur, no one holds your hand. No one tells you what time you have to be at work, when you take your lunch break and when you go home. IT IS ALL UP TO YOU. That is a blessing and a curse. Learning how to push yourself enough, but also learning when to say I’ve done enough for today and I will start fresh tomorrow.
I’m just going to write a small list of daily things that help me stay focused:
1. Set a weekly goal. You can have daily goals and weekly goals. Set your week goal first, then divide the tasks that will accomplish the week’s goal into your 5-7 day week, (depending on if you work weekends).
2. For your daily goals, set a realistic number of tasks to do. When you write a list of all the tasks that need to be accomplished, you get overwhelmed and often waste time because you do not know which one to begin with. Start with three, if you knock them out, awesome, move on to the fourth, then maybe the fifth and so forth. At the end of the day, congratulate yourself for being productive.
3. Work smart. There is working hard and there is working smart. Tune in, ask yourself if what your doing is priority? Is it moving you closer to your personal goal for the week? Is it something that is directly relative to your day tasks and daily goal? If not, put it aside, move on.
4. Have fun. Take a break. Eat. Exercise. Laugh. Kiss someone you love. Don’t forget to live. There is no point in doing something everyday if you do not love what you do it for.
