Sometimes, things just aren’t working. You feel unbalanced in both work and life, and no matter what you try, you just can’t get back on the right track. When we’re performing at our best, this flows through and positively affects our business. Similarly, when we’re feeling stunted, our business is likely to become the same. Luckily, there’s a relatively easy fix. Here are the two things you should start doing to improve your life and benefit your business.
- Slow down
Living in an attention economy as we do, being busy has become a sign of importance. Somewhere along the line, it became a common thought that the more you were rushing around taking phone calls, sending emails and meeting clients, the more successful you were and would become. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Being busy doesn’t make you more successful, it just makes you more liable to crash and burn somewhere down the line.
It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, but if you’re constantly on the go without any down-time, burnout is inevitably going to happen. Slowing down can help you avoid this, and there are a number of other benefits too. A slower pace can:
- Improve your decision making, as you’re allowing more time to process your thoughts more effectively
- Improve the quality of your work, because you’re no longer rushing to complete things
- Reduce the amount of mistakes you make, as well as feelings of stress and panic
- Improve personal productivity and effectiveness
Leading a slower life doesn’t mean you’ll be less successful. It will give you increased feelings of enjoyment towards everything you do, as well as provide you with more energy to do them, and encourage success in all aspects of your life.
- Empathise
Empathy is a rarely talked about – yet incredibly important – business skill. Defined as having the ability to understand and share another person’s emotions, feelings and experiences, empathy can do a number of beneficial things both in your work and personal life. From being able to observe and understand how customers are finding your products and/or services to improving management and employee satisfaction within the company, empathy can transform your business. It can fuel better collaboration, improve workplace culture, increase customer satisfaction and even give you a competitive advantage over your company rivals.
But if empathy doesn’t come naturally to you, how can you cultivate it within yourself and your organisation? This can be done in three really simple steps:
- Try to see things from other people’s point of view, like your staff members and customers. This can help you create a stronger connection with them, broaden your own perspective and understanding of the world, and even lead to fewer issues and disagreements.
- Acknowledge and validate the experiences of others, even if you don’t agree with it. This cultivates feelings of acceptance and improves communication between you and those you deal with.
- Practise active listening – an effective way of communicating that involves making a conscious effort to gain a complete understanding of what someone is saying
By practising these in every possible situation, you’ll give your empathy a big boost, and experience all the benefits that come with it.
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Author: Ronsley Vaz
Ronsley is the founder & chief day dreamer at AMPLIFY. He is an author, speaker & serial entrepreneur.
He has a Masters’ degree in Software Engineering and an MBA in Psychology and Leadership. He is known as the creator of We Are Podcast – the first Podcasting Conference in the Southern Hemisphere, and the host of The Bond Appetit Podcast and Should I Start a Podcast. He has an audience of over 3 million in 133 countries.