commitment | Bigg Success

Tag Archive: commitment

Am I Cut Out to Own My Own Business?

Written on April 24, 2008 by George Krueger & Mary-Lynn Foster in Bigg Solutions, Business Ownership, Challenge, Entrepreneurship

Bigg Challenge
Kendra started a business six months ago. It’s exciting, but also extremely successful. At times, she really misses the regular salary her old job provided. Lately, she’s even been looking at job openings and she’s seen some great opportunities. Sometimes, she really regrets that she gave up her corporate job. Her question for us: “Is she just not cut out for owning her own business?”

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Bigg Advice
Ultimately, Kendra, only you can decide if you’re cut out for it. However, we’ll offer some guidance on getting through this.

Stop tormenting yourself with the job openings.
If you reach the point, where you’re truly giving up on your business, THEN and only then should you start looking for a job. Some people might say that it’s a good thing for you to keep her options open.

They’re wrong!

Once you make a decision like this, you can’t constantly look at what might have happened if you did something else or what could happen if you completely change direction.

You have to commit to what you started out to do. If you don’t, you WILL fail.

Develop your own internal process to stop the second-guessing.
This is closely related to the point above, but it is such an essential skill for entrepreneurs that we thought it needed to be separated.

As a business owner, there will be days when you’re on the top of the mountain and there will be days when you’re stuck in the valley. And there are few days in between!

When you’re stuck in the valley, your internal voice is one of the things that will help you get back to the top of the mountain. However, understand that as a business owner, you’ll be back in the valley again before long. It’s just part of the process.

That’s why it’s so important to develop an inner voice that encourages you, rather than creating more doubt.

Develop a support network.
Friends are great, but you need to regularly converse with fellow business owners. Anyone and everyone who owns their own business will completely understand what you’re going through. They’ll give you that boost when you need it. And that includes us!

Thanks, Kendra. We wish you bigg success!

Keep yourself fired up by tuning into The Bigg Success Show! Get a lesson and a laugh in five minutes or so!

Our bigg quote today is a good one, but isn’t attributed to anyone.

“Any belief worth having must survive doubt.”

If you stick to your beliefs, there’s little doubt that you’ll win.

Next time, we ask, “Who’s in control – you or your Blackberry?” Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

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Tags: business owner, commitment, corporate job, doubt, entrepreneur, guidance, inner voice, internal voice, network friends, regrets, second guessing, successes

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I Changed My Mind – How Can I Back Out of a Commitment?

Written on April 17, 2008 by George Krueger & Mary-Lynn Foster in Bigg Solutions, Challenge, Time Management

Bigg Challenge
We received an e-mail from Joe who recently agreed to serve on a committee of a local non-profit organization. He’s discovered that it’s a bigger commitment than he thought. So he wants to know what he should do to get out of it.

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Bigg Advice
You obviously had good intentions, Joe. Sometimes our circumstances change – health issues, new responsibilities, extra care for loved ones, or any number of things. Since there’s no mention of that in your e-mail, we’ll assume that it’s not the case here.

5 options to reduce your responsibility to this commitment

#1 – Quit
This is the most cut-and-dry way to do it. However, keep in mind that it may damage your reputation. That’s why we don’t think it’s a very good option.

#2 – Fulfill your commitment
We think your best option is to suck it up and honor your commitment. Then don’t recommit at the end of your term. You’ll deliver on your promise. Your reputation will remain intact. Learn from this experience so you don’t repeat it.

#3 – Find someone to replace you
We think this is your next best option. If you know someone who is interested in the organization, talk to them to see if you can recruit them to take your place. You’ll leave with your reputation intact because you didn’t leave the group hanging.

#4 – Find someone who can help you
Can someone assist you? For example, perhaps they could make phone calls or send e-mails for you. Delegate some of the work so the commitment is more in line with what you thought.

#5 – Can you be reassigned?
Talk to chair person of the committee. Maybe you can “trade duties” with someone else on the committee who is looking for more responsibility. If your circumstances have changed, the chair person will probably be happy to help.

We’ve been in this situation ourselves, Joe. The bottom line is that you should try to minimize the damage to yourself and the organization.

2 tips to keep this situation from repeating itself

#1 – Don’t commit on the spot
Many people are very flattered when they are recruited to serve. They often say “yes” on the spot, without really giving it much thought.

To keep this from happening again – commit to never committing on the spot!

The U.S. government has laws to protect consumers – you get 72 hours to reconsider a purchase. That’s a good rule when someone asks you to give your time …

Give it a day or three!

Thank them for considering you but tell them you’ll need to think about it for a few days.

#2 – When you say “yes” to anything, you’re saying “no” to something.
A lot of people don’t think about this. As you’re considering giving your time for a new cause, think about what you’ll have to give up because we all only have 24 hours in a day!