Cut. It. Out. | What I Learned About Personal Health & Business Health

by Kate Neri | Jul 28, 2017

For the past year, I have been on a personal health journey to find the right diet for myself. If you know me, you know I’ve worked really hard at this. There was something slowing me down, keeping me from performing at my best, and I was on the hunt to find out exactly what it was.

Through that journey, I found some striking similarities in optimizing personal health and business health. Small companies, even the healthiest, usually have something slowing them down, too. Sometimes we even go so long living with the added burden that we get used to the drag.

We don’t even realize there are things to cut or ways to get better.

No matter how you’re performing today, it’s important to perform regular health checks on your business.

Here are a few ways to identify the things that are slowing you down:

Focus. 

We live in a world where everyone is doing everything. We spread our teams thin, our margins thin, ourselves thin, and ultimately end up losing focus on why we are here to begin with. Just like focusing on the healthy foods that nourish your body, businesses need to focus on what matters most. An easy filter: Does this add value to my customer? If it doesn’t, let it go and cut it out.

Set Goals. 

From short-term targets to larger business objectives, setting goals focuses your attention on achieving desired business outcomes. Goals motivate you and your team, establish alignment through the organization, create accountability, and help track progress. Evaluating the performance against these goals surfaces the things that you need to keep doing and the things that need to get cut.

Know Your Limits. 

As I moved through identifying the best diet for me, I quickly learned about some of my weaknesses. By understanding my limitations, I was able to make better decisions and set myself up for success. When your business has a strong sense of who you are and what you can and can’t do, you can more confidently and more intentionally push away things that slow the business down and focus on those that improve or better the business.

What are the things that are slowing down your business? Is it time to cut them out? Don’t be afraid to get on a business “diet” — it can only lead to a healthier, more efficient team!

Remember, “you can do anything you want but not everything.” – David Allen