Ever tell yourself lies about your business and personal life to feel better?  Ever ignore or deny reality?  Sure you have!  Every small business owner and entrepreneur on occasion tells themselves comforting lies and stories to avoid the pain of reality. But be warned, there are real consequences when you turn away from the truth.

For you to achieve your desired personal lifestyle and business vision (ideal future), you must be honest with yourself.  More than anything else, a lack of honesty and clarity about your current situation (the good, bad and ugly) will get you in a heap of trouble.  Bottom line, you need to be truthful today for a better tomorrow. Conversely, lies and denial today result in trouble tomorrow.

With a solid foundation of truth beneath your feet, you can always improve, progress and advance.  However, if you are trying to tread in the quicksand of denial, you will sink quickly or die slowly from exhaustion.  You must learn to own the truth about your situation, the good and bad.  Don’t run from the truth and responsibility, own up to it … that’s the only way to improve your business and life.

To help you begin to confront and accept the truth, here are some typical business coaching questions for you to reflect upon and answer truthfully:

• What do I like and dislike about my business?
• What do I like and dislike about my role as owner?
• If I had to start my business over tomorrow, what/who would I keep and what/who would I let go?
• If someone were to buy my business today, what would scare them (weaknesses/risks) and what would excite them (strengths/opportunities)?
• What is working great in my business that I should leverage (multiply, replicate, etc.)?
• What is broken in my business I need to fix now?
• Am I mainly working “on” or “in” my business?
• Am I functioning like a leader or doer?
• Do I own a real business or simply work a crazy job?
• If I could change one thing about my business, what would it be?
• What are some unresolved issues/”messes” in my business or personal life that need to be cleaned up?
• What is broken in my personal life I need to address now?
• If I could change one thing about my personal life, what would it be?

Look carefully at your answers … see the truth.  What do the answers reveal about you, your business and your life?  Can you accept the truth of your answers?  If so, congratulations.  You can now move on to develop solutions based on truth and clarity.  Again, as a business owner, try to live by the motto, “Truth Today for a Better Tomorrow.”  You won’t regret it!