Learn From Business
My husband has been in business since he was eight years old, when he worked alongside his father. He made change for the customers, and most of them, he said, thought he was a hoot!
He learned early on, watching his father and engaging in business transactions, that you have to be sharp, know how to read people, and be willing to put in the hours to be successful.
Today I had this thought about the work I do: it’s just business, not art. I’ve been looking at it from a creator’s perspective and have allowed my feelings to influence my choices and actions.
But, as my husband has suggested many times, everything is a business. So, regardless of how personal my work is, I have to see it objectively to succeed.
And so, this blog post came to be.
We could learn a lot from business.
The Self
With regards to the self, a business mindset can help us to be more in tune with who we are, what we want, and how we want to be treated. Seriously. Think about it. If we paid more attention to what’s actually going on inside of us, we’d be better off. We’d be able to make choices that align with us, rather than making them out of feelings like guilt or obligation to others. In a business mindset, the self comes first. It has to, to succeed.
In business, you have to be confident, or you will be eaten alive over time. The same is true in life. Confident folks command respect and won’t settle for inappropriate or harmful behavior from others. Being able to speak your mind with confidence is necessary in business. If you’re shy or cowardly in life, you will be eaten alive over time, too.
Friendships
In our friendships, a business mindset can help us be better friends. You’re probably wondering, really? How? (I know I am writing this. I have the ideas, but not always the entire blog post in my head, and I think as I go.) Having a business mind in friendships is necessary. Think about when a friend asks to borrow money. A good business mind would assess if the risk is worth it. Also, putting the self-first (not in a selfish, spoiled, entitled way, but with an awareness of who we are and what we want, while still having feelings of compassion and empathy. We need that for ourselves, first.) makes interactions much more pleasant because we’re being our authentic selves and enjoying the connections. After all, there are no miscommunications or misunderstandings.
When we’re authentic, all of our relationships are better because we stand up for ourselves, feel compassion for others, and there’s no competition or negative feelings. We choose better friends, the ones with whom we can be ourselves. You know the feeling when you can be yourself.
Families
Having a business mindset in families can sometimes cause disputes. The family dynamic requires everyone to take a role and stick to it. I don’t know if it’s nature or nurture, but we all adopt a place in a family, and that becomes our identity within the unit. It’s weird, like taking the same seat at the family table all the time. Given that these roles are different, there tends to be squabbles when the more business-minded person won’t go along or budge on something because they put themselves first.
We can still maintain healthy family relationships and a business mindset. The secret, as my husband says a lot, is balance. We can care for ourselves while still being loving to someone else. The trick is to be aware of our thoughts and focus more on gratitude and love.
Focusing on gratitude shifts our mindset from grumpy, angry, or whatever other negative emotion to one of lightness, peacefulness, and contentment. Try it.
Think of three things you are thankful for. It could be anything. Once you have them, really think about them. How do they make you feel? Stay with that emotion and bask in it. That is peace.
Work
We can still have a business mindset while working for someone else. I wish more people had it. Those are the folks who care about the business, go the extra mile without needing applause or more money, because they care whether the business succeeds. *They know that if the business is doing well, they’ll do well.
It’s the law of the universe that what we put out we get back.
We have gotten so off track with our work ethic (with the self-employed, administrators, managers, and employees). The standards once upheld in business have eroded over the years. No longer is there a mentality that you start at the bottom and work your way up by showing your value and how much you care about the work. Today, more and more people want big money for little effort. That’s not how business works.
Romantic Relationships
This is the one I was most excited to tackle, with the idea that having a business mindset can not only attract a better match but also strengthen and make it healthier. How, you say? Well, I just so happen to be very experienced in this area, and although I don’t write about it a lot (which I should), I live it every day.
The more we give, the more we get. Remember that.
I used to believe that I needed to be less giving because people took advantage of me and hurt me. But it wasn’t because I was giving in the first place; it was because I was with the wrong people who couldn’t appreciate someone like me.
Let’s face it: most people aren’t giving, and they think it’s weird when someone is. Or they might judge wrongly and assume the person wants something in return. Why are we so programmed to believe people are out to get us? It must have something to do with our ancestors.
Anyhoo, to have a strong and healthy romantic relationship, we need three things:
- Good self-worth
- Good self-esteem
- Confidence
And do you know what those three things give us? Self-love.
How does that work in a relationship?
By having good self-worth, self-esteem, and confidence, we become one with ourselves (our inner child feels safe and loved). To love another, we must love ourselves first. If we don’t love ourselves, then we can’t possibly really love someone else. We can say “I love you” till the cows come home, but until we love ourselves, the feeling is flat and the relationship has a **ticking time bomb. I learned that the hard way.
I didn’t always love myself, and partnerships were a lot harder. As I forced relationships to feel “loving,” I thought low emotions (like anger, resentment, worry, jealousy, and sadness) that served no one well. Love will come when love is there.
I’ve written blog posts about loving ourselves. I’ll put them below.
Trust me. In business, just like in relationships, if you don’t have good self-worth, self-esteem, and confidence, your potential, and the potential of the relationship, isn’t being served.
To Sum Up
Life, essentially, is a business. We have to pay attention to ourselves, mind where we invest our time and money, and give more than we get to be successful at love or money.
Thank you for reading it. I hope you enjoyed this one. I really enjoyed writing it. I always enjoy writing these, though.
To business,
Francesca
* I’m aware that many businesses today don’t care for their employees. I’m referring to the ones that do.
** I meant this in a causing arguments way, but it can also mean the relationship ends.
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Written by a human for humans. 
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*DISCLAIMER: FrancescaME is not a therapist or doctor, and any information shared is from personal experience, learning, and research.
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