When I wrote this morning about how important it can be to look at where a person is spending the bulk of his or her time when it comes to the home business operation, I started thinking about how many of us become more interested in one or two areas of our businesses than others. In fact, we can become downright obsessed with certain areas or elements of our home business and that can be both a good and a bad thing…
Obsessions can be inspirational and can invigorate us to spend more time and energy on certain areas of our businesses. For example, if there is a new product that comes on the market in your field or you suddenly take a class and learn how to use a particular software program, it can spur you on to getting organized or making needed improvements to your business operations. Obsessions can also benefit us if we are trying hard to solve a problem or working to come up with a new direction in which to take our businesses.
Where obsessions can get us into trouble is when we spend too much time focusing on one area and let the other elements of our business lapse or we do not manage our time and resources in such a way as to make sure that all the bases are being covered. Obsessions can also be a way of avoidance—by focusing in on the pieces we enjoy, we can avoid working on the pieces that we do not necessarily like. Think of a child with a new toy or a video game—by obsessing and playing non-stop with the new toy, everything else can be abandoned and neglected. As long as you are aware of your obsessions and working to take care of the other elements of your business too, you can use an obsession as inspiration.