Business Lessons About Finding Satisfaction in Small Steps Forward   

As an entrepreneur, you feel there is always something you can be doing to grow your business: refresh your website, post a new blog entry, make some tweaks to your advertising strategy.  And it’s really no different as a professional in any corporate workplace. There’s always a relationship to be cultivated or maintained, leads to follow-up on, a bottomless inbox that needs some attention. More clients, more impressions, more “eyeballs” — that’s the name of the game to boost the bottom line.  Yet, despite best efforts to stay on top of the latest and greatest (of everything), the harsh reality is that it is impossible to do it all.

I attended SXSW this year for the first time, and focused my trip on soaking up as much information as I could about the current trends and future focus of sports and entertainment.  Also included, though, was a good dose of personal interest sessions to really max out the days (like a “featured speaker” session with the cast of Silicon Valley!) Needless to say, the most stressful moments were in deciding which sessions to attend at any given time (I needed a clone of myself, pronto). There was an interesting side effect to this, however: after three days of the “which one will I attend?” debate, and consequently battling the “I wonder what I missed out on?” curiosity, it turned out that my biggest takeaway from my experience was this: businesses can’t do it all either.

For example, a panel on the future of sports television content discussed the pressure to not just keep up, but to also set the trends, and then innovate. That certainly sounds familiar, doesn’t it? There is more content than ever before, consumed in an increasing number of ways, all day, every day. We tend to lead our lives in a similar fashion, being connected to our jobs 24/7, making sure that our colleagues and team members (not to mention family and friends) can reach us at a moment’s notice. Add to that the need to regularly pitch great new, cutting-edge ideas in the workplace.

How “Carpe Diem” & Being Present Can Be Helpful in the Business World

So how does one filter through this wealth of information, to edit, and not overwhelm? If this is a constant struggle for TiVo, MLBAM and WWE, how in the world does that translate to how we as non-name brand individuals approach our day-to-day tasks?  The simple answer: let whatever you do today be enough.

A Twitter panel delved into the concept via its “Power of Now” presentation, extolling the value in the immediacy of real-time experiences. In the midst of so much focus on the future, here was a compelling panel focused on the importance of being in the present. It was a great pulse check for what has become the status quo of always feeling as if there is a need to be do something about “tomorrow.” Instead, the idea was presented to giving some attention to the experiences (and “wins”) of today, as well.

The Importance of Limits & Boundaries

Kerry Washington addressed a packed room about the importance of maintaining authenticity when managing one’s social media brand. She emphasized the need to take stock of the value of your voice and to not be afraid to put yourself out there. More notably, she also stressed the importance of boundaries, and being okay with setting limits for yourself that might not win you fans. This is a great takeaway that holds relevance for everyone from celebrities and Fortune 500 companies to entrepreneurs and managers. You can’t be everything to everybody — but you will always be something to someone, and that’s just fine.

In today’s fast-paced business environment, you have to work smart and hard. “There’s no rest for the weary” could not be truer, whether you’re a one-woman show, an organization leader, or a hugely valuable team member. However, no matter how great the scope of responsibility you own (or feel you own), you can’t possibly do it all.

By all means, please do calibrate toward your milestones, and keep that list of goals refreshed. Progressing and succeeding is what you do. But also remind yourself to let whatever you do today be enough. Because it is.