March 2001

Entrepreneurial Spirit

By Nancy J. Beckley, MS, MBA

Your Time Toolbox

How to find time to accomplish your goals and follow your dreams.

as your year gotten off to a good start? Remember those New Year's resolutions? Still on track with your goals? Over the past year I have gradually transitioned from a rehab consultant to a professional and personal coach. It seemed a logical entrepreneurial step to take in my consulting practice.

Everyone has entrepreneurial desires. Even people who work in corporate America dream of starting their own business. Many even dream of being more innovative or entrepreneurial in their current corporate jobs! Many hold back on these dreams because of fear. One of the biggest fears, believe it or not, is not failure, but rather the fear of not having enough time.

Even though I have spent most of my career working in huge hospitals and organizations, I always believed I was a pioneer because I was the first person to have the job (so I got to create the vision) or I had the opportunity?actually seized the opportunity?tore?create an existing job. Many people begin acting on their entrepreneurial urges tai starting a business that grew out of a hobby or an activity that they immensely enjoy in their personal or business life. As the marketing and business development executive for a large rehabilitation hospital, I had the opportunity to exhibit at many trade shows where I always had a beautiful gift basket at my booth to give away in a drawing. I enjoyed the gift baskets so much that I started a business. At the time I had just completed an MBA, and I wanted to see if I could run a business. I did this for 2 years. It satisfied a great creative and inventive need, I worked far too many hours, and didn't make a whole lot of money?but I proved to myself that I could do it. And even to this day, nearly 12 years later, my husband and I talk about what fun we had! Of course, I kept my day job. In fact I sold my business to a gift shop when I was promoted to director of managed care for one of the largest hospitals in Florida.

GETTING TIME ON YOUR SIDE

My lifelong career dream was to be a speaker and do consulting. In order to achieve this dream, I started working on it while I still had my day job until I had enough business to do it full time. The key to my focus was making time work for me.

In my coaching practice, I notice that many people are held back due to lack of time. In fact, many do not realize that the heart of their problem is not lack of time, but the inability to make time work for them. I have worked with therapists/owners/administrators who want to either add new programs, open their own clinic, or create a rehab network, but complain that they are too busy treating patients, supervising employees, and collecting money. Tricks like setting your alarm earlier to gain time each day do not work in the long term. In fact, you are probably just losing valuable rest! If you find yourself dreaming of something you would like to do, but never finding the time to get started, it is time to catch the spirit.

So how does the entrepreneur catch the spirit with limited time? The answer lies in a time management system that is custom calibrated for you. Julie Morgenstern, author of Organizing from the Inside Out, has created a time management system that is ready for you to customize for yourself in her new book, Time Management from the Inside Out (Henry Holt and Company, 2000). What is so different about Morgenstern's approach is that she empowers you to develop your own personalized approach. She calls it a foolproof system for taking control of your schedule and your life. At first, you analyze who you are and how you like to do things, eg, personal style, preferences, needs, and goals, which help you personalize your own time management system. Then you have the tools to strategize your ideal schedule, keep focused, and stay on track. Finally, you are guided through putting your plan into action while living in the real world at the same time.

Through these simple exercises, you have identified goals and dreams. Goals tend to be more concrete, whereas dreams may appear a little less so?at least until you can make them reality. Establish what is working well in your life, both at home and at work. This provides a positive base from which to start. Don't be afraid to seek the opinion of others. As you build on these strengths, start tackling the things that "take your time." Finally identify what Morgenstern calls your energy cycles throughout the day.

Whatever calendar system you use should work for you. Keep your dreams close at hand, write down your goals, set time aside (think of the productive time slots you identified above) to accomplish them, and ink in that time on your calendar. You will be amazed at how you will begin to accomplish things you believed were impossible during waking hours.

Do you really want to live your dream? You may find it is as simple as finding the time!

Nancy J. Beckley, MS, MBA, is president of Bloomingdale Consulting Group Inc and Rehabilitation Seminars in Tampa, Fla. Comments and questions aye always welcome at (888) 999-0275 or via email: nancybeckleyCa3aol.com.

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