When a new business is created, someone had an idea to provide an income and be worth doing. No one starts a business, or should start a business with an idea which is distasteful. Any new business needs every opportunity to succeed, and if it is not fun for the owner, it will likely fail. Succeeding initially means long hours over a long period even before the doors first open, so a new business idea should be something one really wants to do.

As a business idea grows, it begins to flesh out and become real. Plans are formed around steps needed for value added item the business is going to produce. As plans are written out and looked over, new steps are added.

As opening day gets closer plans become more detailed as equipment, suppliers, requirements, location, customers base is finalized. For some business startups, some obvious details items are overlooked until it is discovered something is not working as it should. If anything pertaining to the business is changed, overlooked, or freshly discovered, the plan is updated as needed.

Eventually the doors open and enough time goes by when there are no surprises. No one is expecting the unexpected. One day, suddenly, without warning something goes wrong and a crisis is born. It may be anything from building problem, a utility matter, illness, or unforeseen supply problems going wrong when it is least expected.

Panic sets in and the business owner focuses on how to fix the problem.  A solution is arrived at, implemented, and the crisis is under control. Everyone starts to relax, and shortly it is back to business as usual. Eventually something else happens, and the process of crisis recovery starts all over again.

Running a business has a lot in common with day to day life although it is not obvious. Each of us in our own way is a start up business in some form. How successful we are in the business of our life, depends on how we manage unforeseen circumstances, and what we do to avoid repeat situations.

One of the tricks successful business use is periodic review. Review of what is done, how it is done, and can it be done better, is a continuing focus of successful business. This same process applied to our life can used to help us be more successful.

Reviewing our day, week, month, what ever length of time works in our life is a good habit to start. What should be reviewed is dictated by our unique and individual lives, but there are fundamental areas of our life we all should be monitoring.

What has been done for example. What was done in the last period of time in our review period. How did we improve our life, control personal resources, and limit stumbling blocks whenever possible. Could we have done anything better?

How is our time, money, and energy being used. Is there any slice of life which needs more time given to it. What is, or what has turned into a time waster(s) we can cease to do. Time wasters come in many forms, and a time waster for one person is time well spent for another. Knowing what is and is not important for us is a key to our success.

What was done well, and what could be done better is something we should learn and understand. We have interactions, arguments, and frustrations which we have handled very well. We also have days when we were not exactly a glowing example of the proper way to handle issues. Defining and understanding when we were doing our best, and those in which we were not allows us to prepare for the next time a similar problem starts to happen.

Living is a dynamic process; our individual life should not be managed by how we feel at the moment. Not feeling like doing something that needs to be done, is as bad as overdoing something that should have been ignored. Setting calendar review periods to review what is going on in our life provides better direction, and helps us learn so we better manage our life problems.