Sadly, at 4.30pm on Thursday 12th September, I lost my mother. I take great comfort from the fact that my brother Greg and I were with her at the end, holding her as she left us.
It was all rather sudden. I had only taken her into hospital 6 days before with a nasty arm infection. It is fair to say that I didn’t think that she would leave us so quickly, so coming to terms with her passing has been a bit difficult to say the least.
A lot of things seem to be happening, like the writing of this article, where someone else seems to be doing what I would normally be doing, but I don’t seem to be quite in that moment myself.
Mum was 87 and lived independently until the end. Truth be told, she was right on the edge of independence before her last visit to hospital, and knowing how much she would have absolutely hated not living independently, along with how much a long stay in hospital before leaving us would have not gone down well either (my dad spent four months in hospital before passing), I am pleased for her that it was so quick.
Why am I telling you this?
Two reasons really:
- In case you ever wondered if this person who consistently writes these articles was just a robot, I am not. I write my articles and emails every week, hoping to inspire and enlighten my clients and prospects. I don’t write them weeks in advance because I want them to be as current as possible.
- I have been going through a bit of a business reset and I thought you might find the questions I have been asking myself helpful for your business too.
Your Business Reset
When you see someone pass with your own eyes you can’t help but then look at things differently for a while. Is what I am doing today worth it? Is it good work? Is it making me happy? Is it making my clients happy? Do I want to keep doing it?
Here are some things that I have been doing since mum’s passing that I thought you might find helpful to carry out as an exercise:
- Looking at each email coming into my inbox and doing these things:
- Categorising them into which aspects of my business they relate to. I put each email into the area of the business to which they related and added them up. If one category of emails is larger than the rest, is that part of the business the most profitable or enjoyable? If not, should that part of the business continue, should the price be increased, or should it be jettisoned?
- Should the email have come to me? I have a small but perfectly formed team, but when your time is suddenly taken up arranging probate, sorting an apartment out, arranging a funeral and a wake, it does make you realise that you really shouldn’t be dealing with some of the emails in your inbox. I am putting in place systems for less emails to come to me but to be handled instead by my team.
- Noticing my mood when working on different aspects of the business. If what I am doing really grates me, it has to stop. There have only been some very minor things falling into this category, but that in and of itself pleased me. It means I am generally working on the things that I am good at and that I enjoy.
- Are there things that I have been putting off that I know I should be doing? Yes, well get on with them then Jervis; life is too bloody short!
It is only a short list, but I hope you find it helpful.
I am very much using my common email and article sign off for myself for the next few weeks – keep on keeping on Nicholas, keep on keeping on…
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