Interests and passions drive our home businesses—if it is not something we can get excited about, then it is usually tough to stay motivated and involved. However, there are those times when something that interests us or something for which we hold a healthy passion—can cross over and become a stressful obsession…
Who among us hasn’t heard of those stories of stalkers and “follies”—those projects that were ill-fated but the passionate individual just couldn’t let go until he or she was ruined? It can be hard to draw the line and figure out if you are really just passionately involved and interested, or if your interest or focus has become an obsession. We really do need passion and sometimes a little overdose of focus in order to keep our businesses growing, but obsessing can make problems.
I try to let instinct and common sense be my guides when all else seems a bit overwhelming. I have learned that sometimes obsessing over a problem or something that I really want to happen can be a great thing—it can help me to clarify and focus; other times, obsessing is a way that I keep myself from facing what really needs to be done, or a way that I cling to something in order to keep from moving on. This is when I need a good dose of common sense or a mentor or friend to give me a little objective shove to get me to let go a bit and get things back into balance.
If you find that you are letting parts of your business slide, not tending to your family and other obligations, or losing sight of the big picture, then your passion might be crossing over into obsession. While this can happen occasionally and be incredibly inspiring, too much and your business operations may start to slip. Instead, try to harness the passion and interests while keeping them a bit in perspective so that it doesn’t become an overwhelming obsession.
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