The cosmic clue-by-four

This could happen to you. But since it already happened to me, maybe we can keep that from happening.

The beginning

In October 2006, I was juggling single parenthood (I’d been divorced about five years at that point), a full-time job in a management role of a Fortune 50 company, and a house. I was hanging on and doing okay, until… [cue the doom-ish music]

There was an incident at work. This incident led to a visit from a regulatory agency (nobody wants that!), a whole lot of extra work to fix the issue and prevent it from happening again, and the eventual dismissal of my boss (who was not at fault but instead a convenient scapegoat). This dismissal led to two managers trying to do the work of two managers plus a director. And since we were in the quality department, all this work was pretty much our responsibility. We didn’t cause it, but we had to figure out how to make it right. Such is the life in a corporate quality department. And you can guess that our attempts to get the business under control were not always popular among the executive types.

Anyway… this situation led to months of days that started at 4AM and ended at midnight. And most of those hours? Spent working. When I was at home, I was working unless I was sleeping, showering, or eating. Not a happy time in my life, and not good for my son. Not good for me, either, as it turns out.

The universe gets pissy if you don’t listen to what it’s telling you

Fast forward to July 2007. Andrew had just left to spend a few weeks with his dad’s sister, and I was still working all the time. It was a Tuesday,  and I started feeling as though I was coming down with the flu. Now, logic should’ve told me that you don’t get seasonal flu in July, but (apparently) I was already too impaired to figure that out.

I won’t bore you with all the details. The condensed version is that I didn’t go to the doctor until my fever was well over 105. I ended up hospitalized with pneumonia, and when my oxygen saturation went below 80(!), I spent a lovely evening in the ICU, complete with acute respiratory distress (seriously: I couldn’t get a breath). The pulmonologist later told me he wasn’t sure I’d get through the night, but a shot of steroids finally got me breathing again. Long story… less long, I was in the ICU for one night, hospitalized for five days, and out of work for a month.

The thing is, it shouldn’t have been a surprise to me that I got so sick: under normal conditions, I’ll get sick enough to need antibiotics maybe once every few years. But in that period from October to July? I had three separate bronchial infections that needed antibiotics. Clearly, the universe was trying to tell me that I needed to slow down. When I didn’t listen, the universe knocked me on my ass.

What does this have to do with you?

You’re running a business. Maybe it’s already going full bore, and maybe you’re just kicking off. Either way, you’re working really hard. But are you working effectively, or are you trying to do absolutely everything, absolutely perfectly, all by yourself? If you’re afraid to delegate (or have no one you can delegate to), or suffering from “I need more hours in the day!” syndrome, or just concerned that you’ve traded a corporate job for something that’s… less corporate, but just as much a job as what you left, you’re dealing with increased stress. And when you’re stressed, you aren’t as effective as you could be.

You can fix that

Together, we can figure out what’s really important to your business. We can put together an operating strategy that leaves you with enough creative time to work on your business, while you still earn money. We can develop a growth strategy that will build a strong, long-lasting business, while you keep your sanity.

If you want to hire me, head on over to the Formulary. For some free advice, request a Diagnostic assessment.