After completing a triathlon, I had a friend comment that being in business is a lot like the difficult transition from riding a bike to running. When you have a job, you can afford to coast on the downhill days and relax, preparing for the steep climb that might be the next week or month. However, when in your own business, it is critical that each step counts moving you closer to the finish line.

I can still recall my first job in sales and the target I was given to achieve for a 4-hour shift. My heart beat so fast as I mutually convinced myself I wanted to achieve the respect of the boss and use my strengths to give it a shot. I assessed my product and tried to connect who would be ideal in that moment.

In the next 90 days, based on your trajectory what should you expect?  With this information you can be armed with knowledge to improve the questions you ask of your thought leaders.  You see it’s no good asking people what to do without unpacking the reasons why they would do the things they do.

I have just completed my 2018 strategy and cashflow projections and learnt some valuable lessons I want to share about planning – you must do it if you want to keep growing and if you need help, ask for it.

Planning can be done by anyone, however it doesn’t make you a success. Success is deeply personal, and I encourage you to clearly define it for yourself. This can take time until you are satisfied with the answer to what is success to you?

As the tears flooded from my eyes and snot starting dripping from my nose – not one of the hundreds of attendees handed me a tissue? Thinking back to Entrepreneurs at RACV Royal Pines in 2013, the facilitator was answering my desperate question “How do I know what my purpose is?”

This year has a great feel to it don’t you think?

Perhaps it’s the long hot summer spent at the beach with my husband and three kids who all got on so well that surprised me the most.  In years past, the holiday period was all about juggling cashflow, little kids and competing desires to get some sleep before we rolled into another action-packed year.

Yesterday I had the privilege of watching the Pan Pac Masters volleyball team competing. New Zealand v’s ACT over 35’s, these men take their volleyball seriously and it was so impressive to me as the captain of the New Zealand team had hand picked my husband to play volleyball some 26 years ago and was still playing and still winning.

How do you define winning? See ACT beat New Zealand in the game we watched 3 sets to 1, but this 1 game would never imply that that team is a losing team. You see some Mondays I wake up and focus on all the little games or set matches I have been defeated in and my attitude goes south fast and my fear grows – playing the game IS winning.

Rarely is our life unfolding in perfect balance, you can just get one area of life working when it seems that a major hurdle appears from elsewhere. Learning how to stay in a blissful state whilst growing is based around how well you can leverage your time, money and team. Bates and Thompson 2007, recognised that organisations and workplaces are more than just money-making machines. They are social and psychological contexts in which people live, work and relate.