Grow Your Business While Doing More of What You Love

“Do what you love and you will never work a day in your life.”

Easy words, but infinitely more difficult in practice. No matter how much you enjoy your job, there will always be stresses, problems, conflicts, and setbacks. At times, you might even find yourself asking the question “Why do I do this again?”. Thankfully, you can have a fresh start whenever you like and with it comes the opportunity to refocus on what you love about your job and make positive changes to minimize unnecessary stresses in the future.

[Tweet “Delegation and outsourcing are the key to finding more time in your work day to do what you love.”]

Delegate
Look back on everything that you accomplished last year. Between the highlights and moments of pride or accomplishment, there are probably many little tasks that frustrated you and ate up your time. If you have a small business, for example, you may have sent out cards to all of your clients for the holidays. This is a great idea, and keeps you and your business top of mind with your customers, but it can really eat up a ton of time. By hiring a virtual assistant and outsourcing smaller tasks like this, it will free up hours that you can spend on more important things, from business calls and building your business to eating a healthy meal and taking time for yourself. Take a look at the year ahead and figure out what tasks you can give to other employees or an outside virtual assistant to free yourself and get back to what you really love about your work. A virtual assistant can set you free!

Take Care of Yourself
It can be easy to lose yourself in your work, but there is more to life. Family, friends, relaxation… these things are essential to being a happy and fulfilled person. Spending too much time at the office, even if it’s just the next room in your home, and neglecting them is a one way path to unhappiness. In 2016, carve out some time every week to spend with loved ones, and some time to exercise. This could be whatever you enjoy, from yoga to running to mixed martial arts. Few things improve your mental health like being physically active. Downtime is also incredibly important. Vacations or other periods of rest will let your return to your job feeling refreshed and ready to tackle any problems in front of you. Don’t neglect everything else in your life because of your job.

Take a Good Look at Your Clients
A good relationship with your clients is essential, that goes without saying. But odds are good that you may have a client that demands more than is realistic, drains and frustrates you, or is just a general negative presence in your life. One of the advantages of owning your own business is the ability to choose your own clients. If someone is demanding too much of your time and energy for an unequal return, it might be time to let them go. The time and energy you put into catering to them could be better spent looking for new clients you can have an excellent business relationship with!

Growth as a Person and a Business
The feeling that you’ve accomplished something over the last year is incredibly important to cultivate, and growing your business gives you new opportunities and challenges. So start to look at other ways to expand your client base and business. Email campaigns aimed at new clients can bring in new business and energy. Expanding your social media presence will get your message out to a wide audience of consumers. If you aren’t an expert at social media messaging like Twitter or Facebook, you could outsource it to a virtual assistant who focuses specifically on this sort of marketing. With every outreach effort, try to communicate why it is that you do what you do. People want to work with people who are joyful, positive, and passionate, so make sure that shines through.

[Tweet “Think about how to grow in a positive direction, then focus your energies on making it happen! “]

Also, take some time to think about your personal growth. If you’re stagnant, chances are your business will follow suit. Think about what you’ve always wanted to try, whether it be a new outdoor activity, a new hobby, or a new recipe. Keeping things fresh in your life will give you more inspiration for keeping things fresh in your work!

If unloading some of the tasks that no longer excite you and getting back into what you love sounds good, then grab this free workbook and see how a virtual assistant team can help you!