Unlock Success: Treat Your Life Like a Personal Business
If you’re honest, are you living your life to your full potential - at home and at work?
Too many people become preoccupied with perfection, and establishing the perfect routine, only to abandon things when they don’t go to plan. But what if I told you there was another way?
What I'm about to describe is a structured approach I use with my clients successfully. Read on to do it yourself, or DM me if you need some support, motivation, and accountability from a coach.
What if you could embrace an entrepreneurial mindset and approach your life like a successful business would do? With 20 years of corporate experience, I discovered first-hand how adopting business principles can be really effective when applied to our personal lives, transforming both your career and personal growth. I believe in planning and setting goals, tracking results and pivoting when things go south. I also believe in trying, failing, and not giving up on the first issue. I’ve found that running some parts of my life like a business gives me a lot more clarity of the road ahead and way more control over it.
Let me show you how. I’ve written an article about it and will share it in 3 parts:
Part 1: Your Values and Vision
Part 2: How to have a life strategy!
Part 3: Failure in Business Life: Adapt and Try Again
Let’s start with having that clear vision for your life.
Part 1: Your Values and Vision
A successful business starts with a clear vision and a mission statement which serves as its guiding star. Similarly, you should have a personal vision, a statement that defines who you are, what you stand for, and what you want to become.
Do you have a personal vision?
Are you planning on becoming the next Steve Jobs or the best marketing expert in your field?
Do you want to live a nomadic life or work 20 hours a week in a role you love so you can spend the rest of your time with your family and friends?
Successful businesses invest time and effort to identify the right values which are aligned with their vision and mission, this shows the world what they stand for and what their operations are aligned to.
It should be the same for you and how you approach your life. And you can’t create a clear vision for your future if you don’t know who you are and what you stand for. That’s when values come in.
What do we mean by values? Values are like your personal compass. They guide your decisions, actions, and behaviors, reflecting what's most important to you. Imagine values as answers to questions like:
What truly matters to me?
What principles do I want to base my life decisions on?
What makes me feel fulfilled and content?
To identify your values, think about what makes you happiest, what you're most proud of, and what upsets you.
The importance of personal values can’t be underestimated. By understanding and embracing your core values, you’ll be able to create a clear vision that not only guides your actions but:
Promotes consistency and authenticity
Encourages personal growth
Inspires resilience in the face of adversity
Having a clear understanding of your values will also help you understand why some people trigger you easily because they simply don’t share your values and you can’t change them. When you have this knowledge, it’s easier to make decisions and also to understand why some people make different decisions.
There are plenty of great resources online, and I created this document to help you identify which values are yours.
Which of these values from this list stands out as the most important to you?
Once you’ve identified your values, by integrating them into every aspect of your life, you’ll be able to build a strong foundation for lasting success and happiness - at home and in the workplace - helping you to build a clear vision of the person you want to be, just like a business would do.
Now, Your Vision Statement
Here are two inspiring vision statements from companies I admire. They stand out because their core values are clear and concise:
Ben & Jerry’s:
Product Mission: To make, distribute, and sell the finest quality ice cream and euphoric concoctions with a continued commitment to incorporating wholesome, natural ingredients and promoting business practices that respect the Earth and the Environment.
Economic Mission: To operate the Company on a sustainable financial basis of profitable growth, increasing value for our stakeholders, and expanding opportunities for development and career growth for our employees.
Social Mission: To operate the company in a way that actively recognizes the central role that business plays in society by initiating innovative ways to improve the quality of life locally, nationally, and internationally.
Patagonia: "We're in business to save our home planet."
This statement succinctly captures the company's core values and its commitment to environmental sustainability and justice. These values are further detailed in their updated core values, set in 2022 on the eve of their 50th anniversary. These values include: quality, integrity, environmentalism, justice and not being bound by convention, or doing things their way.
Don’t you just love them? These mission statements drive their strategies and work everyday. It’s their North Star.
Now, what about applying this concept to a person or, more importantly, to you?
Here’s the vision statement one of my clients, Denise, wrote highlighting her values: in [...] are the themes of her mission statement.
“I am a self-confident woman who excels at work and inspires others to do the same [contribution, inspiration, success]. As a loving mother, I cherish every moment with my children and husband [family, love, being present], creating a sense of community for them. I aspire to live long enough to play with my great-grandchildren, which is why I prioritise my health through regular exercise and proper nutrition [health]."
By writing her vision, Denise is making a declaration highlighting what she’s aiming for, this will help her to remain true to herself and her values—keeping her on track if she goes off-piste.
You might not think you have a vision, but we often have visions for specific aspects of our lives, for example, the family or love life we desire or the type of home we want to live in. These visions are shaped by our imagination and our feelings of what we think is right for us.
For another client, Maria, the idea of having a vision for her career seemed unfamiliar. However, she realised she already had a vision for her current life. Because Maria always pictured herself with someone like her husband, living in a house with children, surrounded by beautiful countryside yet with easy access to London. When she met her husband, Marie knew they shared the same values and ambitions. Her vision guided her to make the right decisions early in life—decisions which ultimately led to her vision becoming a reality.
We all do this to some extent.
So why can’t we apply the same approach or principles to our careers?
Viewing your life as you would do a business may provide the template or structure you need to achieve success. More importantly, it will prevent you from diving headfirst into new things without considering the bigger picture - your vision.
Once you’ve identified and articulated your vision, the next step is to make it a reality. What’s the strategy or plan you need to make it a reality, just like a business would do.
And instead of diving straight into tactics, or routines, consider the strategic approach outlined in your vision.
For example if we use the vision example above, the overarching strategic approach would be around self-confidence and inspiring others, quality family time, and maintaining good health.
So today I challenge you to get personal with your values. Write them down, stick them on your wall.
Part 2 coming soon.
