Most of us are quite comfortable with the idea that it is a good thing to do a spring clean around the house once in a while. The thing we don’t tend to do so often is to do the same type of “Clearing Out The Junk” of our business environment. New opportunities and clients can only come into our life if there is room for them. Imagine your wardrobe full of clothes. You are less likely to go out shopping for more clothes when your wardrobe is already bulging and overflowing with other clothes. (Some husbands may disagree on that!) On the other hand, once you clean out the wardrobe, you might be immediately inspired go out and add something new to your collection. It is the same in business. What is often the case is that we are so ‘full’ with junk, that we either don’t see these new opportunities, or we are too crowded to be able to take advantage of them when they appear.
Recognise that you need to have a clean out. It becomes evident that it is time to clear the junk when you become despondent with your clients, you start to make excuses as to why you should not do something, you stop enjoying what you are doing, you don’t have enough time to get everything or you are finding it difficult to attract new clients.
Take Action – Once you recognize a clean up is needed, you must take action. Take inventory of what it is that is keeping you bogged down. It might be old friends that no longer serve your best interests, jobs or favours for others that are not making the best use of your time and expertise, re-setting of boundaries on your time. If you work from home, it could be that you need to clean out and re-organise your office space so it is a reflection of a productive and active mind.
Evaluate your intentions – Be clear on what it is you want to achieve from this point forward. How many new clients do you want to attract? What are your priority projects and what is the deadline for them to be completed? What new connections and relationships do you want to build? Clarity on your purpose will allow you to be open to seeing the new opportunities that will flow to you.
Perhaps set aside half a day or even an hour or two to have a good clean out of your environment and then follow it with evaluating your new intentions. You will be amazed at how more productive and profitable you will find this exercise to be.
Let me know what experiences you have had when you have ‘cleaned out the junk’.
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