As a business owner, how you spend your time, energy, and resources are very important for your long term success and sustainability. In order to curate your life in a way that stays balanced, having discernment is key. Discernment is the ability to have keen perception and make wise judgements about what is right or wrong for you. Discernment is something that you need to continually upgrade as your business grows. You always want to be looking at where you can grow and improve to become the best of you.
You need to be discerning about:
1. Who you network with.
Not EVERY business owner is your tribe. You don’t need to have coffee with everyone who invites you. You don’t need to go to an event just because a friend invited you. Before you go to an event, find out the purpose of the event, what the format will be, and who will be there and if they are a good match for you.
2. Who you take advice from.
Not every business owner or “expert” has the same values and priorities as you. This applies to the free webinars and podcasts as well. Get really clear on your values and the “why” of your business. For instance, if you hear marketing advice that sounds too “salesy” and doesn’t feel right to you- you don’t have market that way. It doesn’t matter if someone claims to be an expert. They are not the expert of YOU. Not every advice or expert is right for you and listening to too much advice can just feel overwhelming.
3. Who you invite into your circle.
Big-hearted women are sometimes too nice and end up bartering and giving their time and talents away to people who are actually looking out for themselves and using you to get more visibility or get something for free. Don’t get burned because you want to be “nice” or can’t say “no”.
4. How you spend your time.
I find that many women business owners are a bit scattered mentally about how they spend their time. If you are not intentional about your time and your priorities lining up, you will end up being busy chasing various ideas and possibilities all week, but not making any substantial progress toward your goals. Once again, be almost brutal about saying “no” to spending time on anything that doesn’t match with your goals and what is important to you. You have a finite amount of time each day – be very discerning about it.
True discernment is discovering what is right for YOU. Don’t let good things get in the way of the best things. This gets easier the more you get clear on the path for your business. You should always be upgrading your levels of discernment as your business grows. Focus on the awesome things you choose to say “yes” to and you will be thrilled to see how your business is growing and how much you are enjoying it!
