Welcome back to our newest edition of “PT Reading Corner” where we introduce and talk about the books that our guests have found helpful in their journey of life and business. Bonny O’Hare mentioned the book “Necessary Endings” by Dr. Henry Cloud had made a big difference in her decision-making process with her business.
Running a business requires making difficult choices on a daily basis to sustain its life and profitability. Firing an employee, ending a marketing campaign or exiting the business and selling off the assets are some ways to these necessary endings.
Dr. Cloud talks about sustaining the life of a business or a relationship similar to a rose bush. The toxic or harmful parts need to be trimmed in order to devote the limited energy to growth and development. However, you need to keep in mind three fundamental principles: 1) You must know your purpose 2) Base your decisions on results versus hope 3) Make changes with urgency.
1) Know your purpose
It is often difficult to make decisions that will affect others negatively or make you uncomfortable. Keeping the ultimate purpose in life, which you strive towards every day, will help put things into perspective. It will also give a powerful “WHY” behind your actions for terminating an aspect of your business that does not produce the desired results.
2) Base your decisions on results and not hope
It is important to have hope in yourself, others and your enterprise. This is what drives people to achieve incredible feats. However, your hope must be based on some sort of objective positive results. Examples include a great amount of patients coming to the clinic monthly or an increased amount of positive reviews about a particular physiotherapist or staff member. Past performance tends to be a great indicator of future results. Track your key performance indicators to make your decisions based on tangible aspects.
3) Make changes with urgency
The faster you put an end to an undesirable pattern in your business/relationship, the earlier you can devote energy to what really provides positive results. However, humans are designed for consistency and not for change. Therefore, you have to convince yourself by first outlining how your next year will go if you do not alter the current course of events. Then, compare it to how those 365 days will play out if you DO commit to the new process.
This book contains plenty of useful information and strategies on how to put an end to unfavourable events or toxic people in your life. The principles outlined here will make sure you concentrate on the actions that matter. Thank you, Bonny, for recommending this book!
