Do What You Love...And Keep Loving It

Over the past week there has been a constant theme running through my life and work..."Do What You Love."

The problem is that when a person makes the leap to make what they love their life's work that they often are saddled with additional duties that they loathe in order to make doing what they love happen. Stress and stagnation in a business often follows because people have the tendency to avoid certain activities that simply are a necessary part of business. Then the entire house of cards falls because they didn't take care of every aspect of the business.  The business wasn't nutured properly. Can you follow that? Does that sound familiar?

Some people loathe a task so much that they even avoid hiring someone to do it for them. They just ignore it and hopes that it really isn't necessary. This week I've talked with people who are avoiding the following knowing that it will be detrimental to their businesses:

accounting, billing, taxes
sales calls, sales emails, sales letters
collateral materials, website redesign, promotional materials
media relations, social media, blogging, any sort of public mass outreach
networking, connecting with others live and in person
strategic planning, non-strategic planning, keeping a calendar, making any goals at all
....and more.

I understand that in this still recovering economy that people don't have the cash flow, they can't do everything, they have to cut back. Unfortunately some businesses are simply cutting OUT what they should have simply cut back.

These same people are now freaking out because they have a year's worth of accounting, marketing, networking or planning that has been missed and their bottom line is suffering because of it. They are ready to throw their dream of doing what they love away and think it isn't possible.

What I've learned is that you can do what you LOVE but you have to ask for help from people you trust to keep the other areas going. Please don't wait until you have an entire year of receipts, no new business contacts, clients have forgotten about you, or you no longer love what was once your passion.

Just like in a relationship with a human, the relationship with your business needs to be nurtured in order to grow.  You don't have to anything extravagant...no trips to Paris on a private jet. Just make sure you pay attention to the needs of your business so you can stay in love into the golden years.