How was "business" understood in your family growing up? Did you talk about "business"? Were members of you family involved in running a business?
When your family (especially your parents) talked about money, was it discussed openly and calmly or was it a stressful secretive conversation?
How did your family tend to think about "businessmen"? (If you're my age, there weren't a lot of conversations about business women.)
What word comes to mind, from your family and childhood, when you hear the word "work"?
I grew up in a military family so we didn't talk about business. We talked about Dad's career but not "business". When my dad retired from the military, he bought a small roofing and siding business. He was.....OK at running a business. I suspect he made too many decisions from emotions (especially his hiring decisions) and the business struggled.
As for money....we may "honor" our troops but we don't pay them very well. Yeah, yeah, yeah, "free" healthcare, "cheap" commissary and PX, "paid" moves. It adds up to less than you think if you didn't grow up in the military and my parents were usually stressed in one way or another about money. They didn't talk about it openly but when you're a kid, you know.
Because of the military background the word that comes to mind, immediately, for me when I think of work is "professionalism". That was a strong motivator for my dad. "Honor" is probably in there too. I now realize how deeply rooted those ideals are in me. Being a professional, and taking our profession seriously, is instinctive for me.
What you saw and experienced in your family around "business", "money", and "work" are a permanent part of your perception of these things. That may be a huge benefit or a significant hindrance but it's there, it's definitely down in you.
I recently read something (can't remember what) that made me realize that people who grew up in families that were involved in running businesses, especially successful small businesses, enter adulthood and their own small businesses with an advantage. They've been steeped in it for years. They may already have a deeply ingrained (and hopefully healthy) sense of what it means to be a smart / good / successful business person.
Re-connect with the person you were as a kid and then answer these questions without too much pondering or analysis. What's the first thing that pops up in your mind?
Business is:
Businesspeople are:
Money is:
Work means:
Take a look at your answers. How much is this affecting your massage practice today?
Business is: A mechanism of providing products and services to people in need of those services or products.
ReplyDeleteBusiness people are: People who facilitate the mechanism of a business to provide for the needs of people, whether in goods or services.
Money is: A tool that provides access.
Work means: Efforts extended into action for the purpose of producing something of value or benefit to or for a group of people; producing an income in exchange for the efforts extended.