5 business tools for personal life and career

Tools that have proven themselves in business are quite realistic to use in everyday life. Find a problem that is relevant to you and use the experience of entrepreneurs to solve it.

1. If it is difficult to decide on changes

Plan SMART: This is the acronym that managers use to set goals and set goals.

The goal from the point of view of the SMART system should be precisely formulated (Specific), measurable (Measurable), attractive (Attractive), achievable (Reachable) and tied to time (Timebound).

For example, your goal is to create a happy family by 2022, and you are single. To achieve it you need:

1. Prepare physically: solve health and appearance problems, find time for dates, make a plan for going out for dating.
2. Prepare financially: allocate funds for travel, registration on sites, creating an image.
3. Prepare mentally: get rid of illusions, work through injuries.

Now, in each of the three areas, set SMART goals again: make an appointment with a psychotherapist, adjust your work schedule, buy new clothes. Then break them down into sub-goals that are close and achievable: save a certain amount of money, delegate responsibilities to free up time, and so on.

2. If it is difficult to adapt to change

In this case, the “Swiss cheese” method comes to the rescue, when you do what you can today and do not make far-reaching plans.

For example, you want to change jobs, but now it is difficult to find a free vacancy, and not everyone conducts face-to-face interviews. So, you can focus on self-education, sign up for online courses, write a plan for answering questions from employers.

And of course, online interviews are also a very real way to find a new place.

3. If it is difficult to choose one of several options

You have the opportunity to go on vacation to one of the countries, buy the kitchen of a particular company, spend a weekend with a few friends. And none of them is perfect, each has flaws, and you cannot decide what you are ready to put up with and what you are not ready for. What to do? Do a SWOT analysis!

It is a strategic planning method based on comparing options in four categories:

1. Strengths (strengths).
2. Weaknesses.
3. Opportunities.
4. Threats.

Write down the strengths and advantages of one of the options in the upper left corner of the sheet, and the cons and weaknesses in the upper right corner. After carefully studying what is written, determine what opportunities are contained in this option, what are the risks and dangers. You write them out, respectively, in the lower left corner and in the lower right.

At the same time, both opportunities and dangers can be the result of both strengths and weaknesses. Then write down other options in the same way. And then compare – what happened. This will make the choice much easier.

4. If it’s hard to figure out who you need and who needs you

Businessmen solve the same problems when launching a new project. It is not forbidden to determine in this way what you want from a potential life partner or a new friend. In order to more clearly understand your needs and understand whose interest you yourself can count on, you should answer a few questions:

1. Who will suit you?
2. Who are you suitable for?
3. Where you can meet each other.

To the question “Who are you suitable for?” the answer can be obtained by referring to a SWOT analysis of your own strengths and weaknesses. When answering the question “Who would suit you?”, use the methods that usually help in determining the target audience. You describe in detail what kind of person you need, what his own motivation for a relationship could be, what interests and goals he has. Having dealt with this, you will clearly understand where you can meet him.

5. If it’s hard to figure out if a particular candidate is right for you

Sometimes it’s hard for us to understand what exactly is going on in our relationship with a partner or friend. Use the Bruce-Henderson Matrix to see the whole picture. You need to evaluate three parameters of who you are communicating with for each item:

1. The time you spend communicating with this person.
2. Relationship dynamics.
3. Emotions from communication.

Time can be estimated as a percentage. Two other indicators need to be evaluated in points: from -5 to +5. Draw a coordinate axis, where points are placed along the abscissa axis, which will mean emotions from communication, and points along the ordinate axis, indicating the dynamics of relationships.

You place boyfriends at the intersection of their indicators on both axes and designate a circle of such a diameter that corresponds to the allocated time. All those who are in minus zones or close to zero are hopeless. And you have the greatest chances for a successful relationship with the one who “climbed” above the rest in the right corner.

As you can see, business tools can be successfully applied in personal life. When making decisions, choosing a job or a potential partner, it is convenient and useful to calculate moves and options based on well-established and widely used methods.