Your self esteem as a business woman can benefit greatly when you become selfish. That might sound pretty odd but let me explain. As a woman in business, how many times have you stopped to take care of yourself and reaped the joys of being more successful? If you have to think too long about that to get a response, read these 7 reasons why being more selfish could be the key to your being more successful a woman in business.
1. Set Boundaries. Being able to set boundaries about what you will do or not can seem selfish to others. When people want you to only bend to their will by doing things on their time schedule and not yours, setting boundaries can be your only saving grace. It might seem selfish at first, but you will get more respect and others will soon realize that you can’t be pushed around at will. You will build your self esteem while developing a reputation as a strong business woman.
2. Meet Your Needs. Being selfish means thinking about your health before you do so much that you ruin your health through overwork, stress, and wrong eating habits. If you don’t meet your needs to be healthy, strong and happy, no one else will either. You don’t win if you let your needs slip away. Learn to take time to prepare and eat balanced meals, get exercise and fresh air, and take time to meditate and pray. You will be more balanced and live a fuller life as a result.
3. Get to the Point. When you are selfish with your time you do everyone a favor by being sure you get to the point in meetings, phone conversations, and even in some email contacts. Getting to the point can mean cutting off needless conversations that keep you from meeting your schedule. Getting to the point means not having time to engage in gossip and information you really don’t need to know. Getting to the point is efficient and business like. You benefit others by helping them “get to the point” and get on with their business.
4. Be Real. When you are selfish, you can be real. That means you don’t try to always be available for others no matter what. You know your limitations. You understand what you want to do, when you want to do it and how. This doesn’t mean you never do anything for others. But it means that you are honest enough to not get drained by the demands of others on your time, effort and energies. The more you learn how to relate to people from an honest place in your heart and mid the more real you will be as a person.
5. Increase Productivity. When you are able to be selfish about your time you can focus on what you need to get done in your life. Start by making a to-do list each evening at the end of the work day. Then start the next day off by selfishly guarding your time from needless interruptions. Stay focused on the tasks of your to-do list. Don’t be surprised that you get more done and probably end up finding an extra one or even two hours of time each day for others things. Instead of keeping you alone and isolated, you will find being focused with you time can result in increased productivity leading to more completions of projects and higher productivity in your business.
6. Find a Day. The last point leads into this one in that as you take control of time by selfishly guarding it, you could find that you might end up giving yourself the gift of a shorter work week. You might be able to find as much as a whole day’s worth of time left over at the end of the work week because you were selfish enough to get your work done quicker and with more effectiveness. That means you get to spend time doing more for yourself or be able to spend time quality time with those you love.
7. Honor Your Values. Selfishness means you stay closer to your personal value system instead of going away from it. What that means is you are not willing to compromise to do things that come from aimlessly spending time and effort in areas in which you really don’t want to engage. Take time to identify the values that are most important to you. Is it traveling, spending time with family, reading good books? How often do you allow yourself to get involved with these activities? Be selfish enough to honor your values and you will be a happier person.
Learning to be selfish seems to be an odd thing to promote. But these 7 reasons should let you look at the idea from a different point of view. Being selfish can actually add value to your time, let you be with those you love more often, give you a healthier lifestyle and let you be more productive in your work life. Practice being selfish and find that your success as a woman in business leadership increases.