Unlocking Wisdom: Reflections on Business, Life, and Time

In the rush of daily business, do you take time to reflect? Ed Drozda, The Small Business Doctor shares why wisdom and reflection are crucial for success in his newest podcast episode. Listen and grow with me! 📈 #BusinessGrowth #Wisdom #Podcast 

Episode Transcript

Ed Drozda (00:10):
Welcome to The Water Trough where we can't make you
drink, but we will make youthink.
My name is Ed Drozda The SmallBusiness Doctor, and I'm really
excited you chose to join mehere as we discuss topics that
are important for small businessfolks just like you.
If you're looking for ideas,inspiration, and possibility,
you've come to the right place.
Join us as we take steps to helpyou create the healthy business
that you've all.
Always wanted.

(00:47):
Welcome back to The WaterTrough, this is Ed Drozda The
Small Business Doctor.
I think we'll call this thebirthday episode.
In a couple of days I will beturning 72 years old.
Yes, 72, 7-2;.
I can't believe it myself.
Time really does fly.

(01:07):
I was talking to a gentlemanearlier today who reminded me,
when we're young time can't gofast enough.
We get to a certain point, thenwe don't think about it, and
then down the road we get to apoint where time just does not
seem to go slow enough.
But here I am at the age of 72and I'm looking at how it

(01:30):
relates to the world ofbusiness.
As business people, we'reprobably so darn distracted by
everything that we don't reallythink about time so much.
We're focusing on how do wesurvive this?
How do we make it happen?
How do we succeed?
What comes next?
And how many things did weforget about?

(01:50):
But one thing remains for sure.
As we spend more time inbusiness, we become wiser.
The experience that we gain, theopportunities that we embrace,
the shortcomings that we dealwith provide us wisdom that we
didn't have when we started.
And for that matter, wisdom wedidn't have the day before or

(02:14):
even moments ago.
This wisdom provides ussomething that we need to go
forward.
At the moment we may notappreciate the value of wisdom.
We might simply assume that it'sa result of the time spent.
Oftentimes it's not till laterthat we appreciate just what

(02:36):
that wisdom means to us, and soit is with life.
I can't say how many times I'vethought, boy I wish I knew then
what I know now.
If the 20-year-old Ed had a cluewhat the 72-year-old knows, man,

(02:56):
it would've been quite adifferent life.
But the reality is that life asin business is an ever evolving
situation.
The wisdom that we acquire alongthe way in our business allows
us to take advantage of the winsthat we've got.

(03:19):
It allows us to learn from themistakes that we've made, and it
allows us to become betterequipped to manage situations
based upon the challenges thatwe dealt with, whether
successful or not.

(03:41):
Another thing that I valueconsiderably is reflection.
I think I've always beenintrospective.
Appreciating my time alone whereI could literally talk to
myself, ask questions, answerthose same questions, and
develop insight by interviewingmyself, reflecting on what has

(04:06):
been, what I've done, where I'vebeen.
Reflection to me is anopportunity to evaluate not only
the experiences, but also theaccumulation of wisdom that I've
acquired over the course oftime.
And I have found that reflectionis also very valuable in

(04:30):
business, because it allows meto take a good look at, to
reconcile if you will, and tohighlight the ups and the downs
that have occurred over theyears.
I started my business in 1996,close to 30 years ago.

(04:52):
That's a lot of time toaccumulate wisdom and time in
which to do a lot of reflectionon that wisdom and all the other
things that transpired.
And here I am after all thistime reflecting with you about
wisdom, about reflection.

(05:15):
Wisdom and reflection areimportant on a personal level.
I've always believed that abusiness is personal as well.
You can't take the person out ofthe business despite the fact of
AI and all the other technologybusting improvements that we're

(05:37):
making.
You can't take the people out ofbusiness, and because of that
business will always, to somedegree, be a human construct.
Our wisdom develops from ourexperience.
We impart this wisdom and wederive wisdom as well from our

(05:59):
business.
Therefore, the ability toreflect is important because it
allows us to view things throughthe lens of the past, taking
advantage of lessons we'veexperienced, but not necessarily
learned.
Why is this important to me toshare with you?

(06:20):
For starters, I think that weget caught up in our business to
such a degree, and this is thesame for people who are in
mature businesses as it is forthose who are new in business or
contemplating starting abusiness.
I believe we get caught up inthings and simply don't take the

(06:40):
time to consider what's goingon.
So many opportunities are lostor are missed because of the
rush, rush, rush of respondingto the day to day, the moment to
moment activities that occur inbusiness and yet, and yet,

(07:04):
because we are human we havethat need to be able, at least
now and then to take a deepbreath and to consider where we
stand.
The business doesn't necessarilywant us to do that, or in our
quest for success we might thinkthat business won't let us do

(07:27):
that.
I ask you to consider thatdespite that sense of urgency
that business throws at you,consider the need, your own
personal need to take that deepbreath, to appreciate what
you've learned, to reflect uponit and to use it to help further

(07:52):
your success trajectory.
I may be old, but I am wiserthan I once was.
You too are wiser than you oncewere.
Every day, every moment of everyday, that wisdom accumulates.
Now, I don't want you to thinkthat I am sitting here lecturing

(08:12):
to you, an old guy saying, takethe time, slow down.
It's not really meant to be thatway, and I certainly hope it
doesn't sound that way.
What I do want to impart to youis that there is so much
opportunity locked inside yourhead that you may not even

(08:33):
realize is there.
I ask you, I encourage you toallow yourself to reflect upon
that wisdom that you'vedeveloped.
Reflect upon that wisdom andconsider how much it can impact
the success of your business,not to mention your own personal

(08:59):
well-being.
This is Ed Drozda The SmallBusiness Doctor and here at The
Water Trough, as always, I wannawish you a healthy business, and
a healthy you.