When we want something these days, we want it NOW.
Or – better yet – yesterday!
None of this weeks-long delivery nonsense, thank you very much, let alone troubling with the months – and sometimes years! – that it can take to grow almost anything.
No.
Gone are the days of patient hoping, hand-written letters (or anything, really), and building excitement.
Instead, we find our patience as limited as our face-to-face interactions, as we spend more and more of our time and money online and on our (truly incredible) devices.
But some things simply take time.
This wonderful world of opportunity is where we are trying to build businesses and raise families, for example….
And it’s an amazing time to be alive!…
But when our shared plague of instant gratification seeps into the deeper parts of our lives – like our business success or personal relationships – what we care about most can suffer.
The Value of Slowing Down
We all know, somewhere within ourselves, that the things that take time are often the most rewarding things we can do.
You cannot pull a tree from a seed…
Cannot make a chick hatch before it is ready…
And, as the saying goes, cannot “push a river.”
We cannot force our children to grow up faster – nor do we really want to – even when temper tantrums and dirty diapers define our current family life.
Besides, this time – this moment – will be gone sooner than you can imagine. Heck, you may even feel nostalgic about it someday!
Wouldn’t we be better served by being present now, while we can, rather than wishing time with our kids or spouses away?
Of course we would.
And the same principle applies to business growth and success.
Why rush the beginning of a venture, when everything is new and exciting and filled with life?
Why rush the middle, either, when you have some idea of what’s going on, but still a lot to learn – which can be exciting, too?
And why rush the end of your business journey, when everything feels like an old friend, and the years of effort have paid their dues?
Isn’t it better to be where you are, rising to the challenge of the moment, and learning from today, just as you learned from yesterday?
In this way – moment by moment, step by step – you can build a better life for your family and your community…
But only if you stick with it.
Organic business growth – the growth that lasts – requires solid business policies and a great deal of patience.
This isn’t a race.
Real business success calls for slow, steady work over extended periods of time.
With consistent and careful attention, the value of your work improves – and so does your understanding of who you are and what is important to you.
Disconnecting Self-Worth From Business Success
In our society, we tend to believe the things we own or accomplish define us.
But, although you are a business owner, neither your business – nor its level of success – is you.
And neither is your house, your car, your diploma, or anything else that you may let define you.
The fact is, material things cannot bring fulfillment, no matter how expensive or difficult to achieve they are.
By believing (or pretending) that our worth is synonymous with our stuff or our achievements, we imply we can’t be happy until we’ve made our fortunes, bought everything anyone could ever want, solved all our problems, and gotten glowing reviews from everyone, everywhere on the social media platform or search engine of our choice.
Maybe it’s obvious, but happiness isn’t reliant on any of those things…
Which is good, because while we can find business success – and can even make a fortune – there will always be new things to buy, problems to solve, and people who have different beliefs and preferences from our own, making those glowing reviews difficult to get from everyone (even if we can get quite a lot).
Besides, the challenges we overcome and the community we find despite our differences, in part, make life worth living!
So, although it’s quite difficult – and much easier to say than it is to do – it’s time to separate your self-worth from the material things and accolades you surround yourself with…
And that includes how quickly your business grows.
Allowing space for who you truly are to shine through, and setting your business up for organic growth over time, will make for a much more fulfilling experience as a business owner.
Growing Organically with Your Business
Running a business is both very challenging and very rewarding.
But the expectations we have for ourselves and our businesses need to be realistic, or we are setting ourselves up for failure.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t dream big – on the contrary! Reach for the stars!
But know that real business “success” (which you must define for yourself, btw) requires time and strategy.
No business becomes the next Google or Amazon or Apple or Starbucks without patience, or without a solid business plan!
And to know if a particular business strategy works, you must stick to it, giving it time to form accurate results. After the necessary “incubation period,” if you will, you can make changes where needed…
But without time, you can never know if your original idea would have flourished!
Marketing, for example, is a great strategy for creating organic growth in your business – but it only works if you follow through on the policies, values, and business acumen that you portray in your ads through time.
(That’s where your business plan comes in!)
In short, you must build trust with your clients by doing what you say you will do, or your business will never grow.
Would you buy anything else on Amazon if the items you received were always damaged, and neither returns nor refunds were allowed? Of course not!
Even Amazon and Google – often thought of as “overnight” sensations – were not built in a day!
They, like all successful businesses, are products of time. Countless hours of work went into their growth, even if they grew relatively quickly.
The point is this: organic business growth takes time. It takes effort. It takes energy and honesty and learning from mistakes.
And when you put your time and effort into something and let it grow, you’ll find that you have grown, too.
Conclusion
Freedom Consulting is here to help you navigate the business world, so you can find your place in it!
The world needs you and what you have to offer.
You are valuable! And so is what you bring to your business!
It’s what you bring to your business that can help it succeed…
But healthy growth takes time.
If you rush your business growth, you rush your own journey – and that is the journey of a lifetime! Savor it!
