Be honest… after all it is the #1 objective most people have… initially anyways… here’s what’s really going on…
I gotta know, are you doing this??
.. anything… you gotta try this and see what it does for your business…
Hey there! Good morning.
My dad and I were talking the other day. He was over here visiting for a little bit, and he said those words to me: “I was doing great but then I got stuck because I’m not sure of what to do next.” Maybe you can relate. Well, first of all it’s kind of mind-blowing that my dad’s retired, and, now he’s starting a little online business. So that is super cool! And I love that we get to have those conversations together. But when I was sitting there having this, and, I proceeded to ask him some questions to help him figure out exactly what he was stuck on. Then we helped him get clear on the next three steps to take. Once he knew that, he’s like: “I got it!” We didn’t have to talk about it anymore. We didn’t have to flush it out. He knew exactly what to do, and, he’s already done it.
I want to ask you the same thing. Where are you stuck in your business? A lot of times one of the things that happens with entrepreneurs is that we tend to our business. We set up our business; we work on our business; we manage our business in isolation. (and) When you are working in isolation, and, when things are not fully integrated, what that tells me is that, you are solving immediate need after immediate need, as they come up, as you bump into them and that is a hard way to build a business. You’re gonna get super frustrated. You’re gonna run out of time and energy. A lot of times your passion will drop. (And) you’ll start second-guessing “Am I made for this?” “Is this supposed to be my calling?” It is you just simply haven’t seen the big picture. You’re not working in integration. (And) You’re not collaborating. Those are the things that you must pay attention to as an entrepreneur, or else, like you have to stay tethered to that; or you’re gonna lose your interest and you’re gonna start doubting yourself.
So I want to ask you a couple of questions to help you figure out where are you stuck, and, more importantly where to keep your focus. So, are you in the place where you’re just beginning – you don’t even know who your audience is; you’re not even sure how to talk to them; or where to find them? If this describes you, I’ll tell you where to put your focus in just a moment. Maybe you’re in
the spot of you know what your business is; you know a little bit about that you’ve gotten going; but you don’t have enough names on your contact list so you don’t have people to reach out to to book sample sessions; or try to get those discovery consultations is that where you’re stuck; or maybe you do have enough names on your list. But you’re not getting those sample sessions booked.
You’ve got enough people to reach out to but nobody’s scheduling those appointments with you. Maybe that’s where you’re stuck. (Or) Maybe you’ve got enough names on your list. You know who you’re talking to your booking sample sessions, but nobody’s converting to paying clients. It helps to know exactly where you’re stuck so you can identify what are the next three things that you can pay attention to.
If you’re in that first category where you’re not sure who you’re supposed to talk to, how to talk to them, or where to find them, I recommend that you do some market research. That’s your first focus. Don’t worry about website. Don’t figure out business cards. You don’t need to worry about logos or anything like that. You need to know how to talk to your market and who your market is. So, market research is your priority.
If you don’t have enough names on your list, chances are, it’s hard for you to talk about what you’re doing. A lead magnet is where you put your focus opt-in page on your website. You don’t have to worry about building a whole website. A website is not what gets you business. Being able to be of service and create relationships – that’s what gets you business whether you’re in person or online. So having a lead magnet or a free gift that you can offer in exchange for names on your list helps you to grow your list way more easily. It helps you to get more referrals, and, people growing your list as well.
If you have enough names but you’re not booking enough sessions, I would look at what’s the process. Once somebody says: “Hey, I’m interested in what you say.” Making sure you have a clear process all the way from getting that name on the list to the automated
follow-up, engaging the easy online calendaring system to book those sessions with reminders, so that people are showing up or ready and prepared for those sessions.
That’s why I’m going to give you right now. There’s a lot more that I could share with you, but the thing to pay attention to is making sure you know the bigger picture first. So you can have an integrated viewpoint from there you’ll never know where not to put your focus you’ll always know exactly where to put your focus on any given day, any given week, any given months so the work
you do is efficient and effective. (And) Then you can make it a lot of fun.
Post below which one of those four categories that I just mentioned where are, you stuck, and, what is the next step you’re going to take today.
Having a mantra in your business can really alter things pretty quickly when you bump into frustrations or stuck spots – like changing your mind, like that will change everything. I know it sounds a little out there, and, maybe woo woo. So many people, when I talk to them, they’re like – “I don’t have time that I need to focus on this.” “I need to dive into this project you need to get into that.” And when you can stop for a moment and get your mind aligned make all the difference in the world with your energy, your emotions, your creativity, your inspiration how you work on those projects will be impacted.
So I want to share with you one of my favorite mantras – a universal truth that when I learned about this, gosh, about eight or nine years ago, when somebody shared this with me, it truly is a go-to mantra that I use all of the time. Whether it’s with clients or prospects presentations, when I’m on stage speaking, whether I’m teaching or creating content, it doesn’t matter. I use it in all aspects of my business, and, even in my family, and my life and it goes like this: “Agreement is total control.” When you know that, when you can remember that, when you can recite that to yourself, agreement is total control, nothing can impact you. Nothing can affect you. You are no longer the victim of anything. And you immediately turn your energy around, and, take control and responsibility of everything in front of you.
Now you can do something about it. Agreement is total control. So, what does that look like? And there’s three things that I want to share with you. I want to give you a scenario. So a lot of times I’m talking with new coaches. And they’re just in those stages of building their lists, and, starting to do those sample sessions, and, having those enrollment conversations to get clients, right? A lot of times I hear somebody will say, “Well, I’m in this sample session and I want to be professional, but you know, I’m super nervous. I don’t really know what I’m doing just yet. This is all brand new for me, and I’m scared I’m gonna screw it up.” In that moment, I asked them to remember: agreement is in total control. And if I’m sitting in that sample session, and, I’m nervous that my nerves are going to impact how impactful this conversation can be with that prospect, the first thing you can do is reach for transparency. Give yourself permission and be transparent. Remember, we’re not confusing perfectionism with professionalism. Being professional, you can still be transparent. And sitting in that sample session, I would say something to the effect of “Hey prospect Suzy, you know, I just want you to know that this conversation is so important because I can I know it’s gonna have a profound impact on your life. I also want you to know that I’m nervous. I’m new at this and I know you know that and I am nervous, and I don’t want my nerves to get in the way of making sure we have a great conversation for you and the results you’re looking for, so I just I wanted to put that out there so you knew.” And in that moment when you become transparent, and, you give yourself permission, you also give the other person permission. Because they’re probably nervous as well. And it’s like “Oh, now we can both breathe. Now we can move through this together.” Without knowing exactly how it’s going to be or perfect. So, whether it’s a sample session or any kind of tricky conversation you’re having with, maybe your kids, or a boss, or a co-worker, or a team member, whoever it is, or yourself, if you own your own boss in your business, transparency and giving yourself permission, leads to really owning that spot of agreement is total control.
The other thing that you can do is you can use yourself as an example, and be playful. Again, we’re not confusing perfectionism with professionalism, but when we can say agreement is control – let me let you another example. So, I was talking with this client, and she was attempting to do something in her business. The first few times she did it, it didn’t quite go like she thought. Things were a little awkward. There were a couple of mistakes that were made. That was at the end of the world? No. Did she do it? Yes. Right done is better than perfect, right? So, she was really nervous. She’s like: “Well that’s gonna make me look bad.” And so, I had a remember agreement as total control. Now, her clients are also in a situation where things get really, they get kind of crazy. Things usually don’t go the way that they’re planned. And when we took this second step to say: “Use yourself as an example.” She was able to create some marketing messages and some content to put out there to her clients to say, “hey clients, hey prospects, have you ever been in a situation where you feel like nothing’s going the way it should you? You had great intentions, and you made some mistakes, and, now you’re beating yourself up? Well, guess what? I just went through that!” I tried this project in my business. I made some mistakes, but guess what, I did it. I’m further along and now I’m getting results. And I want that for you, too. So, now she can use herself as an example for living exactly what she knows her clients are going through. Now, she’s more relatable to her prospects well that she’s talking to and to her audience. Now, there’s more compassion, both that she has for her prospects, because now, she’s living it and she knows what they’re going through. But her prospects, when they see her, it’s authentic! Her message is authentic, and there’s a deeper connection that’s made. So, when you can use yourself as an example, be playful. Because you remember, agreement is total control. Now, you can have fun. You don’t have to confuse perfectionism with professionalism. You can still be professional. You can make mistakes, and, you can leverage that.
The third thing that I want to share with you is a question to ask yourself the next time you get frustrated, or, you think something’s wrong, or it’s not going right, or, you’re whatever it is it didn’t work out for you. Ask yourself this question: If I find myself right in this moment, what would that look like? What would I do? What would I say? How would I be if I found find myself right in this moment? In the midst of all the frustrations, what would that mean? So, in that example with the sample session, or with my client that was doing a few things in her business for a project, making some mistakes, her clients and prospects were seeing these mistakes in real time. And then she owned up to her story. If I find myself right for making these mistakes now, I can start thinking the thought of: “oh, my clients can actually relate to because they do the same thing. They have good intentions, but make mistakes. And it doesn’t go the way they planned. Now I can create a marketing message that’s authentic!” So, when I’ve asked myself how can I find myself right in this moment, you change the way you see it. Instead of finding yourself wrong, because my client was like: “oh my gosh, I’m making this mistakes! My marketing is ruined! My prospects won’t listen. I’ll never get any clients…” that’s because she was finding herself wrong. But the moment she found herself right, agreement is total control. Nothing can hurt her now. She can leverage her situation.
So, where is a spot in your life? I want you to comment below. Is it in your business? Is it in your marketing? Is it with your prospects? Maybe it’s with your kids, maybe it’s a boss, a family member, a co-worker. Whatever it is, I’d love for you to comment below. What’s a situation that’s frustrating, you where you’re finding yourself wrong, everything’s wrong, it’s not a good the thing, the situation is bad. Comment below and I’d love to play with you in the comments and thread below about how we can turn that around so you can find yourself right and move into that mantra: agreement is total control. I can’t wait to play with you and the thread below.
So, I was sitting with one of my best friends the other day, and, I was helping her with her business. Her husband was in the room, and, this quote came out of her husband’s mouth: “Hobby time is over, it’s time to get done!” He wasn’t saying that in a condescending way, or judgmental way, just a matter-of-fact way. You see, my friend, she’s had a lot of different businesses, and, she’s amazing at what she does. She dabbles in a lot of them. She’s now moving into the next evolution of her life; and and the business! It’s becoming a business. It’s not something that she wants to dabble in, and, just do a little bit here, a little bit there, and, kind of fit in, and, around. Her life is like this – is a real business. She’s ready to start speaking. She’s writing a book, she wants to work with clients, teach workshops and retreats. She wants this to be a consistent steady business that supports her family. She has a newborn baby. Her husband was right. Hobby time is over, people. I want to share three things with you that can help you move from hobby time into it’s-time-to-get-done. There’s three things I want to share:
The first one is what is your commitment? This is a very serious question to ask yourself. On a scale of one to ten, what is your commitment to doing whatever it takes, one being no, I’m fine with my job; ten Being I’m in no matter what I’m in. Full out on a scale of one to ten, if you’re not a ten, that’s fine, it’s red. It’s better to be honest with yourself than to fool yourself, because the journey ahead of starting your business is no joke. Now, the rewards are amazing. Being an entrepreneur, there’s so many incredible business benefits, and, the lifestyle can be amazing, t’s no joke. So, what’s your what’s your commitment? If you’re not a 10, ask yourself – What would it take for me to be a 10?
When you’re at a 10, it’s time to go the second question to then ask yourself is: “What are my priorities? Write down the top three, our top four priorities in your life. Sketch those out, and, then I want you to do something. Go to your checkbook, open your checkbook, register or print out your statement for the a month. Based on what’s listed in your checkbook, I want you to tell me what your top three priorities have been. After you do that exercise, the next thing I want you to do is, I want you to open up your calendar. Let’s just say for the last month or the last couple weeks, the way you’ve spent your time, the things you’ve done, the people you’ve met with what have you spent your time on. Based on your calendar, and what you spent your time on. Now, tell me what your top three priorities are. When I work with my clients, and, do this exercise, rarely does their checkbook, and, their calendar match – the initial priorities that they say. I want you to be really clear, not fool yourself because a lot of times, will say my priorities are these. Meanwhile, our time, and, action, and money is spent on things. Over here, that out of alignment can cause this tug-of-war, and, we get nowhere fast. You’re just frustrated because you’re not getting results in your business. So, get your priorities in alignment.
The third thing, once you’re committed scale 10 out of 10, once you know your priorities, and, they’re aligned, now ask: “What are the next three steps I can take right now and who’s my accountability partner to help me with that? You see, my friend, she knew the next three steps, but it was a little daunting for her. She wasn’t quite sure. She was nervous. She had a lot of self doubt going on. I grabbed her laptop, hit the button that needed to be hit, and, off she goes! Now, the momentum has been created. Now, she’s super excited. So, that accountability partner or wingwoman, as I call it, can really help you get over yourself when you just need to take that action. It’s what are the next three steps you can take and who’s your accountability partner. Here’s a little tip about accountability partners – your accountability partner cannot be a person that is in the same spot on your journey that you’re in. That’s like the blind leading the blind, because both of you then don’t know what you don’t know. And you’ll just keep going around in circles, feeling like you’re doing something but getting nowhere fast. Your accountability partner or wingwoman must be somebody that’s further on the journey than you are. Either a colleague that’s already been there, done that, a coach that experience in it, a mastermind where there’s a collection of individuals that have that experience. But make sure you’re not the blind leading the blind, and, that your accountability partner or wingwoman really does have your back because they’ve been on the journey.
So, those are things that I want to share with you today, and, I have a message for you. The world needs your work. We are in a state of transformation. Hobby time is over.
Post below what’s your commitment, what are your priorities? When you did those exercises, what was revealing to you? I’d love to hear that and support you on your journey – hit that button and get going!