Sometimes, the best advice you can take is your own. 

I would like to start out here by explaining that this piece of content really isn’t as wanky as it sounds on face value. You know how it is so much easier to give your girlfriend advice about her clothing choices or her career than it is for you to take the same advice and put it into practice? Well, business is much the same. From the outside looking in, it is often incredibly easy to see the changes that someone should make in their business, and the steps that they should take. The question has always been, how do you apply the same clear and logical thinking to your own situation, and essentially learn to take your own advice?

In business, it’s very easy to get caught in the motions. To get stuck in the same way of doing things, and to forget to make a significant change. Despite all our best intentions, sometimes the easiest thing in the world to do is to just keep the status quo. Which really doesn’t work when you are having a problem within your business (or personal life, no judgement here) and you need to make the change.

For me, if I am dealing with a big change or a business issue, I blog. I tend to write down the ways in which I am growing my business and changing the way that I am looking at, reacting to or doing things as a way of processing those actions, and hopefully motivating others to do the same. And sometimes it works in reverse too – on occasion, I have written a blog on a topic only to have that same issue occur dramatically in the week that follows. Life is funny like that.

But sometimes, I forget my own lessons. I forget how difficult a previous situation was, and how much I had to change to fix the situation, only to find myself falling back into the same patterns. And so, I tend to go back and re-read my own blog posts, to reaffirm what I am doing and bring back a bit of that zeal I had when I first wrote down my own learnings. And it often reminds me of why I had the revelation in the first place, which reinspires me to make the changes I need to over again.

This process allows me to step away and objectively look at my business, on the road to making a significant change, that is actually better for my business, my health and wellbeing. Sometimes it’s one of those third-times-a-charm situations where it takes a few goes to get it right, and other times I might be able to see crystal clear exactly what I need to do and it’s a one-and-done kind of deal. Sometimes, the lessons take a little longer and take a little more processing – but that doesn’t mean I don’t know what actually needs to be done. Sometimes I just need past-Emma to give me a bit of a kick up the keister to get it done, and so – I am willing to take her advice.