Mind your business

One time I was speaking to a corporate group while sharing with them productivity tips. One of the keys I emphasised was to encourage every individual to mind their own business. Reason being that some people get side tracked and want to keep tabs on who is emailing what, who is having lunch with the new lady, who is befriending who, who is spending more time with the boss…and the list goes on. Besides that, there are famous gossip columns that people follow like it is a religion. Before long, a week, a month is gone and not much can be reported other than an accumulation of reports about other people which cannot move the organisation forward. The other danger is that you lose touch of your own world since you are focusing on other people’s worlds. That’s tragic.

What does it take to mind your own business? Focus on what you believe is the most productive thing to do in the moment. I bet it’s never gossip or just looking at what other people are doing…what I call poking your nose in their business unnecessarily. Of course it’s different if you are a supervisor and as such part of your mandate could be to actually check out what your subordinate is doing.
If at any one time you feel seduced to get deeper into other people’s worlds, pause for a moment and ask yourself this question – is this useful for me? If it is, go ahead. If it is not, stop it because your mama might find you, give you a little slap and then say “didn’t I tell you those are bad manners?” And should live TV catch you in the moment, you know you will be in big trouble. And never say I didn’t warn you, ok?

It’s also a good habit to keep asking yourself on a weekly basis as to whether you are on track. Ideally daily. Because if the answer is yes, then, most probably you are on track. If the answer is no, then pause and ask yourself if you are just working or focusing on other people’s businesses.
If someone is poking their noses in your work, you won’t be able to focus on what matters to you. Go ahead and mind your business today. Should you fail, I will announce an annual event called “Mind Your Own Business Day” and you will be the chief guest.

ethan@success-Africa.com
Ethan is the CEO of Success Africa, a motivational speaker, author and HR consultant.