Learning to let go

Last week was a tough week emotionally. For the first time, I had a real appreciation of why, when larger companies are asked to participate and give money to charities and organisations, they say "no" more often than not. It's because they don't have the time, energy or money to participate in everything.

Sadly though, the charities and organisations that are asking very often don't understand and get angry with the response given back to them.

I realised how these companies feel because last week I had to face the same situation. My natural tendency is to get involved in things and say "yes" to voluntary activities. This was fine when the business was young and getting involved helped me to get known and to get established.

But, we're not in the same situation anymore. The business is growing up, meaning that we haven't got as much time as we once did. It's more important now more than ever to stay focused on where we want to be and what we need to do to get there, rather than being distracted by things that take us away from this.

As a consequence, I'm slowly learning that we have to say "no" to more things, be firmer and not let people take advantage, but this is tough for someone who's been used to being helpful and getting involved.

Last week, I had to deal with 5 situations that really tested my resolve and because I'm still learning to say "no" I didn't handle the situation as well as I could have. It was tough emotionally and the team and I felt a bit demotivated.

So, time to move on this week - let go of the past and move the business forward. Be firm and don't agree to things that take my focus away from this. I'll let you know how I get on.