They believe the only way to recover is to cut back on spending.

I realized every business owner is faced with the same question. Not only are we faced with it in terms of our business, but also whether or not to invest in ourselves in order to grow and move forward.

How are you approaching your economic situation?

Perhaps the answer is that there is no standard procedure and that it’s more important to have a strategy to evaluate each opportunity based on your specific goals and criteria. There will be times when it’s important to invest in your business and yourself and other times when it’s not. Only you know the right decision for you.

As a leader, you need to:

• do what it takes to get the job done
• believe in yourself
• trust your decisions
• be willing to pay the consequences
• overcome whatever obstacles get in your way

We all know how important it is to take a break and yet it’s easier said then done.

How do you find the time when life is so busy already.  I don’t know about you, but I find that things just seem to keep speeding up. There’s always more to do and I can never seem to get caught up.

Last week we got a call from our very good friends inviting us to their cabin in a secluded area of the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia.  Their cabin is surrounded by acres of old growth forest, on the ocean, accessible only by boat.  It is the most amazing tranquil place you can imagine.  For the last few years it’s been an annual event.

This year I found myself hesitating, thinking I couldn’t afford the time.  Right now we’re making so many changes in the business.  I’ve hired a number of people to help me and still we’re swamped.

I felt torn.

Finally I decided to go.  When I was telling a client about it they asked me how I had come to the decision, because it seems to be a common dilemma.

It wasn’t easy.  But, what I realized, is there would never be a good time to get away.  When you’re in business, you’re always busy and that’s the way it should be.  If it’s a slow time in terms of revenue, you have to work on increasing your revenue and when revenue is good, it’s a matter of maintaining and always being one step ahead.

It really comes down to your beliefs and values.

I believe that for me to achieve what I want in my life and my business I need to be rested, focused and have clarity of direction.  I believe that if I want to perform optimally, I have to have a way to replenish myself. Sometimes the best way to get the job done means taking a break so I can approach things with a fresh perspective.  And from the personal side, I value time spent with my friends.

I don’t believe their are any hard and fast rules.

Every time we’re faced with options, we have to apply our decision making strategy to that specific situation.  That way when you make the decision, you know it’s the right one.

So I’m now back, feeling refreshed and ready to go.  And the bonus for me was that because nature inspires me,  I even came up with a strategy for my video products as I walked through the forest chatting with my friend.

Creating a balance between work and play is very important. If we want to see growth in our business,we do need to make choices that keep our life balanced, even when work feels more important at the time. When we do we will see the benefits in every area of our life.

It made me think about how many times I’ve been presented with an “opportunity” and how stressful this can be. I’m sure we’ve all heard people say things regarding opportunities, such as “opportunity only knocks once at your door” ” this is the opportunity of a life time” ” if I pass up this opportunity, I’ll never have this chance again”. One question I have is why is it so stressful if it’s truly an opportunity?

In my client’s case, she had a feeling that something just wasn’t right about this but couldn’t put her finger on what it was. Sometimes you have to just trust that feeling because there is generally a basis for it, it’s simply that you can’t consciously pin-point what you saw or heard that is giving you the feeling.

The best way to decide if this really is an “opportunity” for you or if it’s just an “opportunity” for the person making the proposal, is to measure and critique it according to your vision and goals. You also have to use your values as criteria because that’s where our motivation comes from and that’s also how we evaluate our progress and accomplishments. If you just take it at face value without considering it within the context of your life or your business and what’s important to you and where you’re going, you’ll probably find yourself going in circles.

To help you determine if this is a good opportunity for you, there are 2 sets of questions to ask yourself:

1. Does this opportunity help me to meet my goals? Will this move me closer to or farther from what I want to achieve this year?

2. Are the people involved aligned with my values? Take a look at how they present themselves. Is this how you’d want to be represented? What kind of language do they use to capture your attention? Is it towards motivation or away from? By their actions, do they value what you value?

In my clients case, the answer to the first set of questions was no, this would move me farther away from my goals for the year. In answer to the second set of questions, it was clear that their values were also not aligned. By focusing on vision, goals and values, it only took a few minutes for my client to come to the conclusion that this really was not an opportunity for her.

The more clarity you have around who you are and where you’re going, the easier it is to determine if this really is an opportunity.

It’s not about whether it’s an opportunity for anyone else, it’s simply about whether or not it’s an opportunity for you.