Shiny object syndrome is a phenomenon that affects many entrepreneurs and business professionals. Reflected in a tendency to get easily distracted and infatuated by new and exciting ideas, projects, or opportunities that aren’t part of the business plan. And in doing so, losing focus on current goals and priorities, to the detriment of the main business. The entrepreneurial equivalent of a small child chasing shiny objects which as soon as they get, immediately losing interest in and starting to chase the next shiny new thing.

We all need customers and some businesses need all the customers they can get. But, there will occasionally be customers that are a drain on your time, emotions and resources. Customers that disrupt your business, annoy your team and are reluctant to pay their bills – customers that deep inside you know you will never satisfy.

Ask yourself the question…do you see those around you (and yourself) as fleas to be kept in a box or people that would happily fly to the moon, if you got behind them and took the lid off the box?

If you started  your business with a clear purpose and believe it to be a good one, then it’s only right that you consider business awards. Awards that bear testimony to your achievements, the commitment of your team, the loyalty of your customers and suppliers. You deserve to be recognised for what you’ve achieved – don’t you?

Despite the significant benefits, most businesses don’t invest enough time developing relationships. Instead, they focus on existing customers and those ready to buy now. The great thing is that by focusing on building relationships the whole approach can have an almost exponential effect as you start to gain opportunities from your contacts through their extended networks.

In the context of awards ‘evidence’ refers to a wide range of information woven into your awards entry that combines to support your story and inform judges as to the validity of the statements you make…evidence helps judges to draw their conclusion based on fact and a growing confidence that you actually know what you are talking about, rather than you making statements and just expecting them to accept them – evidence turns your opinion and pre-conceived views into fact.

In business (and life) self-confidence is essential. Making us more likely to take on opportunities free from the fear and anxiety of self-doubt, simultaneously building self-motivation and resilience. But, when this overconfidence in our ability and resulting judgements are greater than the objective accuracy of those judgements, it can become a real problem.

Hard to believe that with almost 8 billion people on the planet we are only 6 connections away from anyone. This has profound implications and creates amazing opportunities for those in business. No matter who you are, what you do or where you are from, you and your business are only six acquaintances away from knowing any other person in the world.

Many have come to discover the significant benefits of business awards. Benefits that can fast-track a business’s value, reputation and enable new-start or SME companies to compete with Corporate giants. Whichever way you look at it, awards offer a real and significant advantage, but only when approached correctly.

Procrastination is not new, people have been doing it for centuries – putting things off, delaying the inevitable, making excuses. Causing anxiety for themselves and others, creating avoidable problems, wasting time, energy and valuable resources. Many cite discipline as the answer, to plan better, be strict with yourself, not to be so lazy. However, procrastination is an emotion regulation issue, not a time management problem.