Why Letting Go is Good for Business

Running a business of any capacity is no easy task. There are many moving parts and ultimately all responsibility lies on your shoulders.  This balancing act often flies under the radar — which after a while, can get pretty taxing.

So take a breath- and take a bow. It is a good time to acknowledge how far you have come. It is also a good time to pause and let what needs to go, go.

Here is some good advice on why letting go is good for business from Daniel Whalen,

Let go of your need for certainty

Plan your work and work your plan, letting what’s outside of your control unfold the way its meant to unfold. Relate to the uncertain aspects of the business as potential breakthroughs, not breakdowns. Save the additional room in your mind that used to occupy certainty and leave it open as additional creative space. You’re going to need it.

Let go of your need to be right

Realise the impact of what being right all the time has. Ask yourself what’s more important — the success of the business or the size of the leader’s ego? Thomas Edison had a string of assistants to keep him grounded from his own arrogance, and he invented the light bulb. Make sure you allow your team and trusted confidants to do the same.

Let go of your discomfort (or affinity) for conflict

Take conflict for what it is — nothing more than a variance. Get comfortable taking a stand for the business, bear in mind the business needs to maintain its value system AND committed employees, vendors and partners. Ditch the tendency to dodge tough conversations or fly off the handle, and leverage healthy communication.

Let go of your obsession

Letting go of the aforementioned items clears the space to let go of this final component. The business is precious, but it’s also a privilege — just like family, friends, and health. Treat these areas with the same passion and vigour that you do your business, and you’ll find yourself with even greater energy to take your organisation to new heights.

Find flow and go with the seasons

The equinox has come and passed, the scales have tipped and our days are beginning to grow shorter…we have officially welcomed in the Autumn. The end of summer means it’s time to start gathering our wildflower seeds for Autumn sowing. What needs to happen now to help create the future you want to see?  Now is the time for letting go, letting what needs to die to fertilise and plant seeds for spring.

For anyone feeling stuck, Eckhart Tolle believes we create and maintain problems because they give us a sense of identity. Perhaps this explains why we often hold onto our pain far beyond its ability to serve us. He also said,

“Worry pretends to be necessary but serves no useful purpose.”

Questioning how your stress serves you may help you let it go. We are all well practiced at having things be out of our control. Over the past couple of years, we have all had plenty of opportunities to adapt to change. This in theory makes things easier, however, fear can also make letting go even harder.  We can be afraid of what will happen to us if we lose something that we depend on for our survival, or happiness. So, we hold on as best as we can.  Intertwined in our attachment to things is the illusion of control. In reality, the only thing we have control over is ourselves.  Remember, letting go leads to freedom.

Unlearning things as you get older can be even more difficult than learning new skills. We get stuck in our ways, blinded by years of being and less open to new ways of doing and thinking. Adam Grant’s book, Think Again is full of powerful statements. These quotes are simple and make you think;

“A hallmark of wisdom is knowing when it’s time to abandon some of your most treasured tools – and some of the most cherished parts of your identity.

 

The purpose of learning isn’t to affirm our beliefs; it’s to evolve our beliefs.

 

Intelligence is traditionally viewed as the ability to think and learn. Yet in a turbulent world, there’s another set of cognitive skills that might matter more: the ability to rethink and unlearn.

 

Great thinkers don’t harbour doubts because they’re impostors. They maintain doubts because they know we’re all partially blind and they’re committed to improving their sight. They don’t boast about how much they know; they marvel at how little they understand. They’re aware that each answer raises new questions, and the quest for knowledge is never finished. A mark of lifelong learners is recognising that they can learn something from everyone they meet.”

 

If nothing else, it is time to let go of the idea that you should know everything when starting out. No one does. No one knows and does everything alone. You have to ask, learn, make mistakes, pick yourself up, try new things, fail and celebrate the small and big wins.

It takes humility to reconsider our past commitments, doubt to question our present decisions, and curiosity to reimagine our future plans. What we discover along the way can free us from the shackles of our familiar surroundings and our former selves. Rethinking liberates us to do more than update our knowledge and opinions – it’s a tool for leading a more fulfilling life.”

This quote is a great reminder that those voices, niggles, doubts, insecurities, fears are all telling you something, moving you along to the next thing and pushing you forward out of your comfort zone and into new beginnings. You never really arrive when it comes to business.  We wholeheartedly agree that continuous learning and unlearning leads to a more fulfilling working life.