Needs vs. Wants : A Business Owner's Biggest Struggle

An endless list of needs You find that there are so many things that you want to do but you never have the time to do them. You are always making a “to-do” list and it seems like the list never ends. Isn't it unfair that you are the only person on the earth that doesn't get to do what you want to do because there are so many things that you need to do? So many bills to pay, customers to call, orders to process, or sales to make. After a while those tasks always seem like a chore and who wants to live a life full of chores? With such a long demanding list of needs, life gets cumbersome and you can experience a loss of hope and desire for that dreamy life to come true. The dreamy life that is the reason you started this career path in the first place. You then feel stressed and overworked most often leading to resentment towards those around you... employees, friends, mates, and even strangers. So you procrastinate, and avoid all the things that need to be done. You are overwhelmed and tired of doing trying to make it all work.

Adjusting the scale When experiencing frustration like this, most people have a hard time understanding what is causing it. Most people will focus on the negative side of things or the areas where you are lacking the most or blame it on another person. Others will try to figure out what is most important and then go down from there. Most often you believe that if something is on your “need to” list, then it must be more important than what you “want to” do. But there's a connection between what you think you need to do and what you want to do. This is what most people don't realize. So the the stress emerges and resentment follows. It's inevitable if you don't understand how your perception of what you need to do versus what you want to do is skewed.

Childhood training Do you ever remember hearing... “You need to clean your room if you want to play outside”. “You need to wash your hands if you want to eat those cookies” or “You need to finish your homework if you want to go to your friend's house later”. Yes, we were all trained from birth that we “need to” do things before we can do what we “want to” do. Let's try to rewire the brain...

Adulthood retraining Pretend that you grew up hearing... “If you want to play outside, you'll want to clean up your room first.” or “If you want to eat those cookies, you'll want to wash those hands.” or “If you want to go to your friend's house later, you'll want to finish your homework.” It all sounds so much better and gives new hope for a more positive outcome. Now look at your “need to” list and see if you can reword any items to match this new way of thinking.

Ex. I need to call all of these leads.

turns into...

“If I want to try to generate more income and have a successful business, I'll want to call these leads and see what I can make of it.”

A single list of wants There was a reason you wanted to own the business you have. There was a reason that you wanted to be in charge of your life. Everything that you do for that business is ultimately fulfilling a "want" that you established before you took the job. So it's important realize that the list of what you need to do, really comes down to what you want to do. Try this change of thought and you'll see that you will be more motivated to make your business succeed and live your life to the fullest. It may seem like an easy thing to do...so go ahead and try it and see what happens this week.

Life Coach Seran Wilkie works with successful individuals who are still looking for more in life. Her coaching sessions and classes have been very popular with high level executives, business owners, and professionals. For more helpful articles go to www.seranity.com

To learn more about this author, visit Jennifer Walsh's Website.

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