Run your life like a Corporation.

I am  eager to inspire you to be the best you can be by running your life like a corporation. However, it was not exactly easy for me to write this post because of two little guys between my ears.

Have you ever tried doing something and literally had two voices in your head? It happened to me today. One voice was telling me that corporations have a very high mortality rate. That the failure rate for small business is too high for me to even ask you to run your life like one.

The other voice was telling me that many corporations tend to outlive humans. This particular voice was saying that if you heed the lessons in this blog post, you may live a bit longer.

Running your life like a corporation may or may not add to your years on earth. But there are 10 ways you can move towards success by running your life like a business. So lets get down to business:

1. Mission Statement
2. Goal Setting
3. Financial Planning
4. Marketing
5. Personal Branding
6. Time Management
7. Outsourcing
8. Partnerships & Joint Ventures
9. Delivering Value
10. Rights & Responsibilities.

1. Mission Statement

Almost all  corporations have a mission statement. This is a brief written description of why the corporation exists. This may include its purpose and values.

Do you have a mission statement? Why are you on earth? Or did you just find yourself here ? lol . Honestly, I did not have a mission statement before this post. I have now written one down. I encourage you to create a mission statement for your life. Just write down 5 ideas of what you think your mission in life is.

With a mission statement, everything falls into perspective. You define your own boundaries and prioritize things in your life. Your mission is different from your goals. Think of your mission as your core values, and your goals as tools to live up to your mission.

2. Goal Setting

Corporations go to great lengths in goal setting. Goals help them achieve their objectives. These goals are written, refined, tracked and documented.

Say for example a company wanted to hire a senior manager. The company would  decide exactly what this manager’s job will be, and how she will help  meets its bigger objectives and mission. They would set goals on the kind of candidates they want to attract, and who they want to shortlist and who to hire. The goals are then communicated to the prospective candidates so everyone understands each other.

You should set goals as meticulously as a corporation would. Make sure your goals serve you and are congruent with your mission statement. In sports, goals are the way of keeping the score. In life the more goals you achieve, the better you will be at achieving others and your confidence will soar. You should set goals that utilize the concept of Kaizen.

3. Financial Planning

To attain financial freedom, you need to plan your finances as a corporation would. Learn to properly budget and don’t spend more than you earn. Seek out multiple streams of income that don’t go against your mission statement or take away your focus from your main source of income.

You can read up on how to manage your finances and/or get a financial adviser to guide you. Setup a blueprint for your financial success, just as a corporation would.

4. Marketing

Who says marketing is only for corporations? You need to learn to market yourself. Whether you are marketing yourself to an potential employer or to a potential date, you need to get this down to an art.

Marketing begins in the mind. How do you see yourself? How do you want others to perceive you? What are your selling points? Do not be afraid to show your best side. If you don’t show yours, someone else will.

5. Personal Branding

Personal branding is part of marketing yourself. Personal branding is all about how you package yourself for the world to see.

When applying for a job or even just hanging out with friends, you are perceived in a particular way, whether you want to or not. You can take control of this aspect of life by thinking ahead of time what you want your brand to represent.

Are you a time conscious person? Are you a loving partner? Are you a hard worker? Are you a hospitable person? You can take active steps to improve how people perceive you. Many people are willing to pay a premium for brands that they are familiar with and trust. You never know who may be willing to go an extra mile just to be with you if you package yourself right.

There are five steps to personal branding:

• Understanding yourself.
• Creating the brand called YOU.
• Communicating your brand image.
• Maintenance & Feedback
• Continuous Improvement.

6. Time Management

Time is money. Nobody understands this more than corporations. If you are going to take away something from this post this is it. You need to manage your time and only spend time on things that take you towards your goals and mission in life.

Companies employ a variety of tools for managing time, from time sheets to time management software. How do you manage your time? Do you find yourself loving the deadlines, especially the whooshing sound they produce as the fly past you? If that is you, start correcting your wayward ways and run your life like a corporation, in that regard. Plan and track your time.

7. Outsourcing

Many companies world over are realizing that they cannot do everything in the most efficient manner. So they end up outsourcing. Outsourcing is the process of obtaining goods or services from an outside supplier or  contracting work out.

If you are going to run your life like a corporation, then go all out. You have your mission statement, right? And goals to help you achieve your mission in life? Then you realize that you cannot be a jack of all trades and time is limited. There are people world over who have specialized skills and knowledge. Tap onto these people to help you advance. Have a master mind group that will guide you, maybe even consider having a mentor.

You can outsource a lot of things in your life e.g your cleaning, accounting, job search, research etc. Even reading is a way of outsourcing. You get the authors to do all the work for you and just enjoy the information you need.

8. Partnerships & Joint Ventures

Modern companies are masters of partnerships and joint ventures. This means  leveraging other peoples assets, ideas and potential to achieve your objective. Of course the arrangement has to be mutually beneficial. You have to deliver your end of the bargain.

The major partnership you get to make in life is choosing your life partner. Choose right to make it is someone you can communicate with and complement each other.

You can also partner with individuals or group to archive a common objectives.  Become a master of putting together partnerships to further your collective goals. Just like in relationships, there are long term partnerships and project based partnerships. Understand the difference to avoid getting hurt.

9. Delivering Value

Business managers know they cannot be in business for very long unless they deliver value to their stakeholders. Set achievable goals of delivering value to your friends, family and partners.

10. Rights & Responsibilities.

Corporations understand that they have rights and responsibilities. Don’t let anyone walk all over you. Learn your rights: what you deserve from your partner, friends, public, government, employer etc. Also understand what your responsibilities to people and institutions are.

Summary

This website exists to inspire you to be the best you can be. This article aims to help you think about, and improve aspects of your life by comparing you to a corporation.

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p.s – If I left out a way of comparing your life to a corporation, please post below I am interested to see what you think. Thanks a million.

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