I am always looking forward to the month of August. Besides being my birth month, it is also my holiday time. During this summer month business is definitely not standing still, but there is absolutely some activity behind the screen. How enjoy having a low profile during this period.
August is perfect to 'take' time to relax. Off-line and unplugged activities can be scheduled abundantly. Staying away from e-mail and social media is a true challenge the first days for someone with a very busy social life on-line. But once peacefulness is admitted, from that peaceful position looking back is possible, specially to the first 6 months of this year. Questions like 'what is going well?', 'what needs improvement?' and 'what can be left out?' can be received, researched and responded.
I have come to the conclusion that every I like to do and with pleasure also needs to have a ROI, especially from an energetic point of view. I call it the EROI (Energetic Return on Investment).
Amongst others this made me decide not organize the monthly OpenCoffee at coffeebar Ludwig in Amsterdam-Oost anymore. I loved doing it, but my EROI scale clearly showed an imbalance.
Being kind is also not really improving for your EROI. Recently I have consciously experienced clients manipulating the kind version of me as a person to deviate from my entrepreneurial self. Besides those who wish me well also entrepreneurs with lots of experience made me aware of it, like Denise Janmaat who once started the first dating site in The Netherlands. She urged me that when it comes to the entrepreneur in me I have to stay objective. It sounds easier than done, but she is right. Once having act like that, it felt good.
Each experience will become an insight by recognition which can be taken along into the plans of the last trimester and quarter of the year. New insights bring along new ideas which can be examined further during the summer holiday.
What is going well anyawy is that doing being an entrepreneur is still fun. New visions, new services, to ways to travel on.
This way the summer holiday in particual the month of August seems to be an amazing opportunity to give a sun salutation to the recycle of entrepreneurship. A recycle which according to me exists of enterprising, experiencing, encounter and examine to continue enterprising.
This article has been originally been written for and place in Dutch on Oost-Online in July 2012