Your Business Needs More Pleasure and Here's Why

By Tricia Scott.

Here's something I've been thinking about. I almost used the word 'pondering' there and remembered I'm not yet eight hundred years old... go figure.

I digress. I've been thinking about the way we use our time. More specifically, why do we use our one non-renewable resource to do things we resent? Worse still, sometimes we do things we really really hate in the name of 'The Business' - Works much better in a Godfather-Esque deep voice - Try it; I promise you'll laugh.

We all do it, and I think we do it because...

We feel that our success is better deserved if it comes the hard way #truestory

We cheat ourselves out of daily pleasure because if we don't, we totally MUST be cheating the system. I mean, whoever heard of a success story where the person in question started work at a non-godforsaken hour, laughed their asses off watching Horrible Bosses during a midday impromptu movie break and had a BALL along the way while RAKING in the money and wearing hot pink EVERYTHING.

No?

I thought not, and that's because we have not been taught to recognise pleasure as not only an integral but an essential part of our business strategy. Show me your business plan, and I'll write the word PLEASURE in a red inky pen over every page like a school teacher marking mock SATS because I guarantee it's the missing component.

Allow me to remind you today that Entrepreneurship isn't the business of who can torture themselves the most to be taken seriously (although I could argue that it feels that way 99.999999% of the time). It involves risk, some massive decisions and Rocky Balboa levels of heart. We can't afford, quite literally, not to enjoy the process. Otherwise, what's the point?

I'm not here to pretend that you can just throw off the restraints of what you need to do to run a business. Trust me, I know. BUT I am here to make an argument or even just a plea for the more Vitamin P in your life because that's what it's all really about, isn't it? You started a business to enjoy your work and your life. Maybe it was freedom, uncapped earnings or more family time that initially floated your boat, but if we trade our time for things we don't enjoy, we also forfeit the very things we came here for. All of the reasons we took the risk in the first place are left behind because we're too stressed out, time short, and too damn busy watching what everyone else is doing.

So today, consider replacing your suffering badge of honour with some rest time, a 5-minute kitchen disco or a long walk soaking in the sunshine EVEN THOUGH we've just had a holiday weekend *gasp*. What would happen? Would your next sale feel cheap or unprofessional because you enjoyed yourself just a little bit in the process? Would it be less of an achievement if your PayPal notification came in while ordering your favourite coffee at the beach?

Not one bit, and the better we spend our time, the more productive, creative and successful we get - it's no coincidence CEO's. I'd call that a win, wouldn't you?

So, whether you pull out all the hot pink stops today or just wear your best perfume because it makes you feel sassy, just remember that in not doing the things you love, you're actually only cheating yourself.

Tricia Scott is an author, speaker, passionate startup business mentor and the Founder and Editor of The Female CEO - Create Evolve Overcome, a platform and digital magazine holding the space to showcase female entrepreneurs from all over the world. She works and collaborates with various organisations to bring the most inspirational journeys, stories and training to help entrepreneurs on their own personal success mission.

The Female CEO is growing, expanding and gaining global recognition daily and Tricia is able to bring her own level of expertise as a start-up coach, mentor and multi-company director to her very exclusive table along with her team of brilliant Guest Editors and Contributors. You'll usually find her with her MacBook in one hand and a coffee or a glass of something fizzy in the other and she always has sunglasses in her hair. Reach out anytime!